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 Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:15 am
It was the absolute perfect day, or so Kahlina thought. There was no school, so she had woken and dressed in a filmy, floating dress her parents had bought her for Christmas. It was made of some light material dyed the colors of flowers, all streamed and blurred together in a flowing way. It was a rarity for her parents to buy her just the right kind of clothes, so this dress was particularly special to her.
It was still early as she munched some toast while packing a lunch and some snacks. She didn't intend on coming back to the stuffy apartment until most likely tomorrow morning. She tucked a bit of money in her pack as well, intending on buying some dinner at one of the local restraunts, as an additional treat. She finished preparing things and stored it all in her backpack. Humming a lilting song, she left the apartment, locking it securely before swinging down the hallway with light steps.
Once outside, where the sun's rays were just touching the sky, though the tall building blocked the sun itself, she broke into a trot, heading towards the park. She waved hello to various shopowners she saw outside, setting up displays or sweeping the walk. They knew her due to it often being her who bought things for her family. They were friendly, but not much concerned about her personal life. She didn't mind this, since she was primarily a private person. Still, it was nice to know that she had somewhere to go if she ever got herself into real trouble.
Bunbeknownst to her, real trouble was on the horizon. As she practically leapt through the gate into the park, her pale form and flowing dress caught the attention of a group of older kids. It wasn't long before they caught up with her, strolling along in mock nonchalance as if they too were just out for a stroll. But she drew into herself, seeing their dark-circled eyes, and the way they looked at her out of the corners of their eyes. Whispered comments not quite heard and coarse chuckles reached her pricked ears as they parted as if to go around her. But she knew she was in trouble when they didn't move past, and instead a big burly guy sauntered closer to her.
"So, where are you headed off to in that fancy dress, Miss Priss?" She didn't know these boys, but wasn't unusual. All sorts of unsavories were drawn to the massive park during the dark hours. This group must have lingered after the usual time of slinking back home. She drew a breath and eyed them nervously.
"I'm out for a walk, just like you are," she replied in a trembly voice. There was no question that she wasn't prepared to deal with these kind of kids. Those at her school were bad enough, but these were big kids, and bad ones too. She clutched the straps of her backpack tightly, desperately hoping they'd just leave her alone.
Sadly, that wasn't to be.
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Posted: Fri Apr 13, 2007 10:39 am
When the morning sun finally peeked above and between the skyscrapers, it found her huddled beneath her treehouse, rump and feet on the cold ground, face buried against her raised knees, arms wrapped tight around her legs. The birds were quiet in the nearby trees, as if respecting the sobs of the young girl, though they sang lustily elsewhere.
No the boys had not hurt her, and she knew enough to be deeply thankful for that. But her dress was spattered with mud and spit, and her backpack was gone, along with her food and her money. They had eaten the food in front of her, making a mess and occasionally throwing some at her mockingly. Tears had streamed down her face as they had scattered and broken her second-best set of colored pencils. Privately she had been glad she'd left her sketchbook in the treehouse last time, otherwise it and all her precious drawings would have been destroyed. Of course they had all hooted with glee when they discovered her dinner money, but blessedly that had sent them all tearing out of the park, catcalling and making a ruckus as they rushed to spend their newfound wealth, paltry as it may have been.
So now she was curled up beneath her beloved sanctuary, grieving the wrongs done to her and the cruelty of others. It was in this moment of intense wishing to be in another place, a quieter, more rural place, a place of mostly green growing things and gentle wildlife, that it happened.
There was an odd rolling, thumping sound, and then a solid THUD of something very hard but not very big slamming into the trunk of her tree. Startled, she raised her head, ears twitching and nostrils flaring. Seeing nothing immediately beside her, she rose and trod carefully around the circumfrence of the tree, stepping over the twisting roots. There... was that what made that sound? Now nestled in a crook of a root was a ball! She glanced around the area, but saw only trees, grass, and brush. Noone to have lost such a lovely green ball.
She leaned closer to scoop it up, and was surprised by two things when she lifted it. Firstly, it was not a ball exactly. It seemed to be made of glass, gleaming in the morning sunshine and very smooth and cool to the touch. Secondly, it was very heavy for such a diminutive object. Her first thought was that it must be solid glass, or perhaps crystal? A crystal ball? The very idea made something inside her flutter excitedly. But... then she noticed that the green seemed to swirl slowly, as if stirred by the motion of her picking it up. And now that she was looking closely, there seemed to be blossoms, tiny flowers, floating dreamily in the center of the orb.
Troubles forgotten, she sat down on a convenient root, letting the growing sunshine soak in to warm her as she further examined this oddity. She turned it over in her hands, but it didn't seem to matter how she turned it, it continued to look like it was the same way up, still swirling in slow circles inside. She looked around once more to assure that there was no owner seeking it, and all her senses confirmed, she was completely alone.
Well, there was no harm in keeping it in the treehouse, since if they ever did come looking for it, she'd likely be up there and ready to present the lost possession. So she rose and cradled the orb against her as she deftly climbed the knotted rope up into her sanctuary. Placing it on one of the cushions, she sat back to stare at it. It still slowly stirred within, and she got the odd feeling that it seemed PLEASED, as if an object could have feelings about its present situation!
Even so, the notion appealed to her, and she began to think of it as an entity rather than an object. "Well, I don't know what to call you, since it's hard for a glass ball to be male or female, and non-gender names are hard to come by," she spoke to it as she rose and reached for a book. "But I'm sure I'll think of something eventually. For now, welcome to my safe place." She paused to smile at it. "Perhaps this can be your safe place too, since the park isn't the best place for something breakable like you are." With that, she settled down serenely in her mud-spattered dress and began to immerse herself in her book, feeling strangely comforted by the presence of the green orb so close by.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:37 pm
Sometime after night fell, after Kahlina had blown out the candles and curled in her nest of pillows and blankets, after she had cuddled the faintly warm orb close against her like a stuffed toy and after she had fallen asleep..... there was movement in the treetop haven.
The swirling green orb took advantage of the girl's slumber to explore. It wriggled and jiggled gently until the blankets snugged around it were loosened, and her arm didn't cradle it quite so close. With some creative movement, it soon was loose to roll about the floor of the treehouse. If anyone had been watching it, it wandered here and there, for all the world appearing to examine this detail or that object. The flowers within swirled faster than they had earlier, seeming more animated now.
But the trouble came when the orb clumsily hopped over a line of cushions near the doorway, for here the floor sloped slightly towards the opening and thus to the edge of the platform the little house was perched on. The momentum of the bumping jump over the impediment meant it was that much harder to stop rolling once the orb hit the floor on the other side of the cushions. A soft sound began as it inexhorably spun to the doorway and out, rising to a squeaking shriek as it was carried plumb off the edge of the treehouse.
Kahlina sat bolt upright at the surprisingly loud sound and gasped at the thud that immediately followed. "My ball!" she yelped, scrambling free of the clinging blankets in the darkness. She tripped twice, staggering but not falling, before she reached the doorway and nimbly swung down onto the rope ladder. It didn't really occur to her to wonder how it was she knew the sound was made by the orb. She simply knew it was, and accepted that.
She let go and landed with a thud of her own at the base of the tree, looking around frantically for her precious new friend. It was the very faint gleam of the sliver of moon through the gap in the trees that told her where it lay in the thick shadows. "Oh, there you are! Come here!" She reached for it, not noticing that it too reached for her, rolling wobbily into her outstretched hands. She scooped it up and immediately cradled it close, once more climbing up. She paused to pull the rope up too, for dark was a bad time to be vulnerable in the park.
She did not put down the orb while she lit the candles, fearing it would again fall off the edge. Once there was a warm glow to see by, she curled back up on her nest of a bed and settled the ball in her lap. "Now what possessed you to take off like that?" she addressed it without really believing it had done so itself. "It's not safe for you to go leaping off the edge like that, you know!" The orb's green insides seemed to be swirling more unsteadily, with a wobble in the pattern. She frowned at it, having been convinced nothing would affect or change the rhythm of the mysterious inner workings of the ball.
Dismissing her odd thoughts, she again curled up with the ball now nestled in the curve of her body, close against her belly, with her knees drawn up on one side, and her upper torso curled on the other. She draped one arm over the top of the ball and began to relax. She spoke drowsily to it, eyes drifting closed in the wavering candlelight, "Now stay here with me, where you are safe and where no harm will come to you." Her last thoughts as she dropped off to sleep were how she was so much more comfortable out here in the open air and green growing things, and how her ball seemed to like it here too.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:12 pm
The unicorn girl spent the next few glorious days with her ball in the park. Sometimes they would sit beneath a sapling, sunlight filtering through paper-thin leaves to cast green light upon the book Kahlina was reading aloud to her friend, as the orb would rock back and forth gently and hum softly in apparent pleasure. Other times she would find a shady alcove, and stretch out in the cool shadows, murmuring random thoughts to the orb, most often spinning tales of real unicorns and the great forests they watched over. The concept fascinated the impressionable young lady, and she dreamily longed of such leafy magnificence to have as a home.
For the time being, she was quite content with her fortress surrounded in deep green branches, shielded from the outside world. She spent practically every moment of every day and night outside with the green sphere. She came to accept the ball's rollings and noises as natural behavior for heavy glass balls with swirling colors and flowers inside them. It was no far fetched thing for her to accept, not when her world was one of daydream and imagination. Some might have thought her lonely, and down deep she might have been, particularly for her parents. She actually sorely missed their presence in her life, but knew that they were doing more important things than playing nursemaid to their nearly grown daughter.
So instead she spent the time with her round friend. She told it secrets, showed it her favorite spots in the park, and carried it with her everywhere. After the first few odd looks the shopkeepers gave her when she carried the 'toy' into their domain, they soon came to take it as one of her charming quirks, and didn't think any more on the oddity. Life was good...... for these handful of enchanting days.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 10:41 pm
The weather had changed. Not drastically, but enough to drive Kahlina out of her treetop perch. A cold front had blown in, bringing enough cold on the wind to chill her even through her blankets. And with it came rain, not the pleasant spring kind that makes you smile as you hear it pattering on the roof or window. Oh no, this was the lashing, sptting stuff that gets in at all the wrong places and makes you feel as if fingers of ice are tracing across your skin.
Driven indoors by this onset, but unwilling to spend time alone in the stifling apartment, she had been spending time in the various small cafes and stores nearby. Of course, she carried the green sphere with her wherever she went, and this had not gone unnoticed. Oh, the shop owners barely noticed, but it was the other customers and the passersby on the street that began to look askance of this almost-teenager and her unhealthy clinging to the orb. Or at least, that is how some saw it.
Others only saw it as an opportunity for their own gain. So it was that one day, as Kahlina sat at a table of a nearly empty coffee shop, sipping a cup of tea and reading while idly twirling the orb with one hand around on the table top, that they came upon her and took the chance given them. The loud laughter took a few moments to sink in, but when it did she looked up in alarm to see the same group of bullys who had stolen her backpack the day she had found the ball.
She frowned at them as fiercely as she dared. "Leave me alone," she demanded in what she hoped was a stern voice. She curled her arm to draw the precious orb closer to her as she glanced around for the restraunt's owner, but he was nowhere to be seen. She was afraid, but determined not to show it. She stuffed the book she'd been lost in moment ago into her new bookbag one handed, intending on leaving as swiftly as possible. The jeering boys jerked her bag away though, sneering as they did so. The rifled through it but found only books and some other girly things that any teenage girl might be found with.
"Look at the baby with her ducky egg," one of the boys ingeniously taunted her, and the others immediately latched onto this new focus. "Awww, sucha good mommy, protecting her ducky egg," they mocked, circling her and picking at her hair and swiping at the orb. If she had been paying attention, she'd have noticed the orb was vibrating within her grasp, but she was clinging too tightly to it to notice. Her wide eyes were on the circling boys instead, her breath shallow in her fright.
Then one of the boys grabbed her arm instead of the orb. "Get her other one, and we'll have that egg for ourselves!" he crowed, jerking hard on her arm. She cried out, which finally brought the cafe owner out from the back of the kitchen. With a shout he grabbed for a broom, heavily trotting towards them with an intent frown. He was no youngster, but he meant business. He'd have none of their ilk in HIS shop!
With further jibes the boys snatched the sphere from Kahlina, causing her to cry out again, in fear for her friend's well-being. The shop owner reached them just then, as the boys scattered, tossing the orb like any playball. The older man held Kahlina back from chasing after them as they began darting out the door and into the street. "Nae, lassie, ye stay here wi' me, safe an' sound." But he didn't understand! Helplessly she watched as the orb was again tossed... and missed.
With a resounding thud the orb hit the pavement, the sound clear even to them inside. The shopkeeper was out the door then, waving his broom and shouting mightily at them. Their mischief done, the boys took off at a run, laughing and jeering at each other until distance mercifully took their voices away.
Kahlina wasted no time in rushing to kneel beside the orb, afraid to touch it, for fear it would simply shatter at the slightest disturbance. Once she realized it was not completely lost, she swept it up into her arms, tears streaming down her face. The concerned shop owner called after her as she ran pell-mell through the rain towards the park. Unheeding, she ran for her sanctuary.
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Posted: Fri Apr 20, 2007 11:03 pm
In the safety of her perch inside the chilly treehouse, she drew the maligned orb out of her coat and began to examine it carefully, tears still occasionally leaking from her eyes to run down her elongated nose. And when she found it, oh my.... the tears came pouring again. Yes, there was a crack. Not just a sliver of one, but a clear breaking of the surface.
Wracked by sorrow for what had become her only real friend, she cupped the ball between both palms and bent over it, holding it close and rocking it as she cried. Her tears fell upon the sphere, slipping down it's sides and catching to glisten brightly in the mourned crack. She wept over it like this for some time, certain all the humming and rolling would now cease forever, a friend lost forever.
So great was her distress, she wore herself out with all her tears and fears. Ehxausted and shivering, she tugged the heaviest blanket she had around her shoulders and leaned against the cold wooden wall, still idly rocking the orb in her arms as her numbed mind slowly shut down. Before long the rocking stopped, and her chin touched her chest as she slipped into a weary sleep.
It was then that the sphere, with her tears still sparkling in the marring cleft, began again to vibrate. It slipped from her arms, but remained where it had fallen in her lap. It vibrated and hummed, rising in pitch as the crack began to widen and spread tendrils across the surface of the orb. Those tendrils, which started tiny and curling, began to spread out and sprout from the fissure in the surface of the ball, as a misty essence wafted out among them. The mist gathered itself together and slowly solidified into... something? The something reached and tenderly brushed a hand across the cheek of the unicorn child. Kahlina gave a deep sigh of relaxation, and continued to slumber more peacefully.
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Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 2:07 pm
Eventually Kahlina stirred, stretching and breathing deeply, while sitting up with her eyes still closed. She then rubbed them and yawned widely, one more stretching before she finally opened them. The first thing she saw that registered was that her precious books were being used like building blocks, scattered to and fro and piled on top of each other almost randomly.
"MY...," she began, and then the other being in the treehouse turned towards her as the first word of mild outrage left her lips, and her heart nearly stopped at those purple eyes stared at her, opened wide and innocent. "I....," she began again, knocked off-stride in her thoughts by the loveliness of those eyes... and that face... and that tumbling lavendar hair.... which eventually led her to the most unusual portion of this young thing before her. Cradled about where the girl's belly would have been was the orb, with colorful tendrils curled around it, and spreading beyond it to float about like ribbons in a breeze.
There was a moment of absolute silence as both of them stared at each other, frozen in the moment. And then the orb's occupant gave a crowing laugh and said triumphantly, "MY I!" Kahlina blinked at the clearly female... well, the only thing she could think of it as was a child... one much younger than herself.
"My aye! May aye! Mah ia! Maia! Maia! Maia!" She chirped excitedly, the random sounds that had begun as a repetition of Kahlina's words into a steady insistence of a single sound. "Maia!"
Still stunned, the unicorn girl simply kept staring and blinking, which didn't seem to blunt the orb/girl's delight at all.
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Posted: Mon May 07, 2007 7:46 pm
The flowery girl swirled excitedly around Kahlina, wrapping her ribbonish tendrils around her, all the while giggling exuberantly. The older girl was still blinking in astonishment as she gently untangled herself and got the spritely looking creature settled on a large cushion. This was when she noticed that the orb she had treasured so was safely nestled among all the tendrils, held close and protectively near the more solid body... or what there was of a body, of the girl. Which wasn't much, actually. Kahlina shook her head in bafflement. What had happened?
"I'm Kahlina," she began slowly, unsure if this being before her could understand. "Who are you?"
Giddy with delight, Maia beamed at her friend. Yes, that was it, wasn't it? Friend? She chirped in a sweet, high voice back at her friend. "Lina! Maia!" All her tendrils writhed in bliss and she reached out to capture one of her friend's hands in both her own, holding onto it childishly. She felt like she would burst, she was so happy. "Lina! Friend!" Clinging to that hand, her tendrils swaying back and forth in a sing-song motion, if that could be described as such, she beamed into the unicorn girl's eyes. "Maia friend!"
Kahlina took a deep, steadying breath. This seemed like something straight out of one of her books! Had this... friend?.... attatched to the orb? Or... somehow come out of it, like an egg hatching? Suddenly she remembered the deep crack in the orb's surface, her horror at the tragedy rising again. With insistent but gentle fingers, she used her free hand to nudge aside the waving extensions to brush the orb itself with her fingers, seeking the place where the orb had been broken.
Startled into a pause in her giggling, Maia curiously watched her friend reach to explore the place she came from... and still was attatched to. Still, she trusted Lina implicitly, even if she didn't know that word as yet, and willingly she pulled her tendrils aside, revealing where she and the orb merged through the crack in the surface. The probing fingers tickled, though, and soon she was squirming, making silly noises as she tried not to laugh. "Silly!"
The unicorn girl was surprised to see that the flowery girl wasn't just cradling the orb... it was part of her! As the wriggling and stifled giggling ensued, she withdrew and watched in amusement as the colorful creature fell about, giggling like a babe tickled with some private joke. "I didn't know that'd tickle, I'm sorry," she murmured, despite the growing smile on her face. It further amused her when the other girl sat up and swung Kahlina's hand happily. "Lina silly!" was declared at her adoringly.
What in the world had she gotten herself into, she wondered. Now she was the sole friend of a rather strange and child-like being born of an orb... or at least, partially born.
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 1:29 pm
At first being with Kahlina in the treehouse seemed enough for the newly hatched Maia. She did a lot of exploring of the treehouse, but never ventured out the door. She stayed put when told, while 'Lina went to go get food to eat. Strangely, the flower being didn't seem to have any desire for food, especially meats. Instead, she would drink water or juice. Not only would she drink through her mouth, but she'd sink her tendrils into the cup of liquid and seem to soak it into herself, all the while chattering animatedly. It seemed that Maia was a very atalkative little thing.
But as days passed, and her language skills improved dramtatically, as well as learning to read Kahlina's precious books, she began to seem to grow restless and uncomfortable. Needless to say, the pre-teen girl was at a loss of how to comfort and provide for this very strange child. She was practically a child hreself! But when Maia began to visibly WILT, despite the water she was brought, the unicorn girl became alarmed. Something needed to be done.
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2007 8:39 am
"Careful now! It's steep! You have to hold on!" Kahlina kept glancing around at the surrounding grove of trees, fearing someone would happen along at just the wrong time and see Maia... and possibly take her away. She felt very protective of the young thing, whatever she was. She watched worriedly as the purple haired beauty moved to the edge of the treehouse platform and stared down at her. "Be careful Maia!"
Her nostrils were filled with the most wonderful smells! She stared down at the inviting earth and felt it's pull. She would have loved to simply leap down, but she was still cradling her orb, and it needed to be protected from harm. Her hair straggled into her face and she sighed and grasped the rope with both hands. Her tendtrils curled up tight to shelter her orb, and then she leaned off the floor of the treehouse and began to lower herself towards that lucious soil.
When she finally reached the bottom and let go of the rope, all her tendrils uncurled and plunged themselves into the earth, much like the roots of a tree. Maia gave a cry of delight and joy and closed her eyes, reveling in the feel of the warm earth, and gathering nourishment from it and into herself. Yes, this was MUCH better than just plain water. She had been mostly encased in dead wood for so long, the sensation of living earth and living plants that surrounded her and touched her... it made her feel positively giddy!
"Oh Lina, this is so wonderful!" she breathed, lowering herself so that she soon was laying outstretched in the grass, one hand caressing the bark of the tree, the other hand running through the grass as if through a lover's hair. "Oh, I've been missing so much!"
The unicorn girl instantly felt guilty. She sat slowly onto the grass next to her charge and gazed at the obvious pleasure the creature had in being out here where the air was blowing softly and the sun peeked through the leaves. She had been so worried about keeping Maia a secret, she had forgotten to put Maia's needs first. Anyone could see that the young being was tied to living things. Flowers regularly bloomed from her back, and she seemed to almost be wearing various sorts of leaves. She sighed and curled her legs underneath herself. "I'm sorry, Maia. I should have brought you out here a long time ago."
Maia looked up at her dear friend with a loving, lavendar gaze. She would never have accused Kahlina of keeping her from her home intentionally. "You didn't know, and neither did I," she soothed, sitting up and stroking the unicorn teen's cheek. "We are learning together, you and I. Never fear doing wrong when your heart is in what you do." It was wise counsel, and Maia wasn't exactly sure where the thought had come from. Shrugging amiably, she went back to reveling in the dirt, the leaves, the flowers, and the trees.
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:32 pm
Kahlina was beginning to wish she was much older and knew better what to do for Maia. It wasn't that Maia was difficult to look after. Just the opposite, really. All the young creature seemed to need was earth, sun, and water. In fact, Kanlina found it practically impossible to pry the dryad from the lovely dark earth that surrounded the tree of her treehouse.
Exasperated with herself and the feeling that she was supposed to be DOING something, Kahlina went for a walk. It was out in the open, so it wasn't something she felt safe asking Maia to come along for anyway. She broke out into the full sunshine, which had been warming steadily to nearing the point of being uncomfortable. She shielded her eyes and rubbed the sun-tears from them. She really needed to go see one of the shopkeepers about a straw hat that she could poke her horn through. She was spending so much time out in the sun these days, she needed it!
Raccous calls and shouts of derision echoed across the grass, though, and that brought the unicorn girl's ears forward in a flash. It was those BOYS. That gang of boys who had given her such trouble! She almost turned and sprinted for the relative safety of the trees, when what was occupying them caught her eye. It rolled and bounced oddly across the grass, but thudded heavily when it did touch the ground. It sort of looked like a ball, but gleamed with a polished surface beneath the sun.
With growing horror, she turned back towards the group. She knew what that was. Oh, it was a different color than Maia's had been... but she knew it anyway. It was another orb! And those awful BOYS had it! A momentary flutter of panic in her chest made her gasp in a breath, but her rising fury at the carelessness and reckless selfishness of those boys quickly overcame her fear. Her fingers curled into fists, blunt tips digging into her palm. She bared her teeth with her growing fury, and began to march out towards them.
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Posted: Sat Jul 07, 2007 11:45 pm
The boys were kicking the orb around as if it were a colorful soccerball, though it had to hurt somewhat to be kicking it so hard. Unless they had on steel toe shoes. That only made Kahlina's fury boil higher, as they laughed and lobbed it at each other with fierce jabs of their feet. The young unicorn girl continued her stomping march across the grassy field towards them, though she stopped when they clearly were about to run her right over.
"STOP IT!" she shouted at them, feeding all her emotion into the words. Startlingly, for a moment they actually did stop. That tone of command wasn't something they were used to hearing. But when they saw who had said it, their blank expressions turned to leers and smirks. They elbowed each other, and gathered closer together.
"It seems to me," their leader sneered, smiling in a nasty manner, "that this upstart needs to be taught the ways of the streets." He set his large combat boot firmly atop the orb. "Wouldn't you say so, boys?" The gang drew closer, beginning to move around to the sides of her.
Kahlina's anger drained away quite suddenly as fear took hold again. What was she, one young girl, against all these older boys? And... what was that odd way they were eyeing her? She trembled as instinct told her that she did NOT want to know. Terror again gripped her heart, but she focused her eyes on the orb and drew a shaky breath. "Leave that orb alone." She didn't know why she kept on with trying to protect it, except that she knew the creature inside had noone else to speak up for it.
"Teach her, boys," the leader ordered, a light of cruel enjoyment lighting his eyes. Four of them leaped at her, two seizing her arms, the other two grabbing her ankles. They jerked her feet out from under her and slammed her to the ground. Kahlina became so terrified that she began to scream and struggle with all her might, though it did no good against the superior strength and weight of the boys.
"KAHLINA!" came and answering scream from nearby. Most of the boys didn't even bother to look around, so focused on their prey as they were. But a few turned to see a very odd sight.
Hovering just beyond the edge of trees was a bristling creature. Her lavendar hair was pulling out of her ponytail, and she was covered in foliage and flowers. But instead of legs she had myriad wildly waving ribbons, and there were vines crawling across her and down towards the earth, and as the boys watched, those vines sprouted terrible thorns. "LEAVE HER ALONE!"
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Posted: Thu Oct 04, 2007 4:22 pm
It all happened so very fast. Kahlina was terrified for her friend, who now faced the mob of boys so valiantly. But that terror bled away swiftly as the boys' cries began to change from jeering to frightened, and then from frightened into pained. She watched in stunned fascination as crabgrass began to sprout around the boys' feet, thickly bunching upwards to quickly overwhelm their dirty and holey shoes. Ever quicker, the tough stuff began to climb up their legs, locking them in place where they stood.
It was their sounds of pain that snapped her out of her hypnotised stupor. For the thorns that had sprouted from Maia's tendrils were now sprouting from the thicker portions of crabgrass. The sharp tips were clearly making their steady way through the fabric of the boys' shoes and pants. "Maia!" she shouted, scrambling to her feet where she had stumbled to the ground. "Maia, stop this! Don't hurt them!" She cast a panicked look at the furious craeture, then back to the struggling boys. "They don't desserve this! They are only foolish and ignorant!"
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Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:55 pm
It was as if a spell had been broken. Maia collapsed where she was, wilting like a flower with too little water. The thorns stopped growing larger, and the crabgrass seemed to wither, though still tangled about the legs of the now terrified hoodlums. The once bold leader was swiftly tearing himself free, his hands earning a latticework of scratches as he jerked the weed off himself. In a startlingly short amount of time, every single boy had extricated himself and fled.
Kahlina gasped a breath and scrambled over to her exhausted friend. "Oh Maia, I'm sorry! Oh dear." The girl fretted over the limp grassy hair and the almost crushed blooms that sprouted from the being still bound to the orb. "We have to get you back home," she referred to the tree house. She started to gather the surprisingly light dryad into her arms, but Maia raised a hand to point into the thick crabgrass, though only a sigh escaped her. Belatedly, Kahlina remembered the other orb. She left Maia momnetarily to gingerly step through the thick weeds, gritting her teeth against the scratches she earned as she dug out the yellow and black orb. It was warm to the touch, and seemed to hum a low tone. Fleetingly it reminded her of Maia's orb, but she tucked it into the crook of her arm and hurried to help Maia back to their tree home.
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Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2008 9:04 pm
The boys had not come back. Khalina had kept careful watch for them, but she saw no sign of them for days after their trouncing. Maia had been limp and wilting for several days after that, listless and dull. Her apathy towards moving around or paying attention to her surroundings had frightened the unicorn girl, and she had found herself more often merely hugging the new orb to her chest and rocking back and forth, watching Maia merely lay there in the pale sunlight. She would drink, but sparkingly, her tendrils sluggish and slack.
Khalina was growing near to her wits end about what to do. Her food was running out, and she knew she needed to go get more soon. Despite this undeniable need, she hesitated to leave Maia alone in this condition. Young and naive as she might be, she could see that all was not well with the dryad.
Finally driven from the treehouse by necessity, she tucked the new orb into her pack and headed out of the park and into the city. She could feel the orb's humming through the strap of her pack, oddly comforting in its constancy. It took her some time, but she finally tracked down where the local nursery was, and waited nervously while the man with the dirty hands spoke with a young couple looking for trees for their front yard. Her eyes traveled over the dlimbing plants, potted plants, and other assorted greenery that festooned the places, giving the air a warm and damp feel. Maia would love this place. She frowned, biting her lip and thinking that perhaps they needed to find a safer, more open place where she could grow things like this for her growing friend.
Then the man with the dirty hands was standing next to her, smiling and asking her what she needed. Her frist thought was how kind his eyes were. Mentally she made note to be sure to come back here... this man was likely to be a lot of help.
"I have a problem," she began hesitantly, her voice soft. "What do I do for a... plant," she hedged self-conciously, "that is wilting and looks sick?" While Maia wasn't exactly just a plant, she certainly did seem to function like one, needing water and soil, sunlight and lots of fresh air. Khalina has surmised that it was likely that this man might have the solution for how to help the dryad feel better. She looked anxiously up into those frinedly eyes. "Do you think you can help me?"
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