Re: Back Behind The Door

[Teldranis]

Teldranis wished he had meditated more this day. His patience was already running thin. "We are not doing anything. These beings are natural-born hunters. It's not as simple as running. I refuse to take you to such a place regardless of your reasoning. Many I knew who thought themselves above these beings were proven sorely wrong. I will not trust you on this."

[Chiasa]

"Baaaah!" She made a face and stuck her tongue out. "Then what else is there that we could do?" Chiasa looked up at Tell curiously. "Oh jeez, you're way taller than I first noticed. But anyway. We couuuuuld...weeee cooooooouuuuuld...." Chiasa struggled to come up with alternative plans. "Mmmmm nope. I got nothing. Back to plan 'A'."

[Teldranis]

"If Plan A involves you going back to stay with Steele, while I leave hereon my own, Then yes, we are back to plan A. I am not budging on this subject, however: You are going to stay here." Teldranis thought to her with a stern tone. "End of discussion."

[Chiasa]

Chiasa shook her head. "Nah, I bugged Steele the other day when he was in. I'll bug him more later. I guess we've got a problem, 'cause I don't want to stay here. I wanna go with you. Teldranis. Puhleeeeease." She put both hands on his arm and looked up at him with a smile.

[Teldranis]

Teldranis closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of his fallen comrades that had failed to heartless not so dissimilar from those in this district. "...Sorry, but no. There's no way I could bring you with me there." Teldranis said finally. If he were truthful with himself, he was surprised he could even bring himself to want to go there.

[Chiasa]

"Well that's kinda silly, y'know. I mean, if you won't let me go with you, why would you go in the first place? You're going, but it's too dangerous for me to go, but you obviously don't want to go, but you're going anyways? I dunno, Teldranis. That's practically the definition of silly. I bet exactly that would be in the dictionary under the word "silly". Next to a picture of you. Hehe." She laughed and grinned widely at her own joke. "So what're we gonna do instead?"

[Teldranis]

Teldranis rubbed his forehead, annoyed at this girl's antics. She clearly had little experience with the world yet. "It's not a matter of wanting to. I have to go." Teldranis said. "...But perhaps not right now." He added, realizing that a terran child, after all, needed little sleep in comparison to a protoss warrior skilled in meditation. He could simply wait for her to fall to her own fatigue and then head towards the second district. An easy if potentially time-consuming end to this annoyance, but one that would cause him to leave the scout even longer. Still, Teldranis reasonsed, the heartless themselves were a fairly good deterrent, and if it had sat that long, he could likely afford waiting a little longer..."

[Chiasa]

"Aaah! Then we gotta figure out something to do, since that plan's bust. Or we can just hang out. I'm good either way, being lazy's gotta be one of my favourite past times. Hehe. So anyway, how long've you been in town? I haven't seen you before. I mean, I guess I don't get out much, except to hand out bread and stuff. But still!" Chiasa was rambling, still excited by Tell's presence. She loved meeting new people; it was just a matter of those people reciprocating her enthusiasm.

[Teldranis]

"It has been a few weeks since I found myself on this world, somehow. I was asked to stay out of sight, so it is expected that you would not have seen me." Teldranis told her. Inwardly, he realized this would likely be a very long day. She was clearly full of energy, and Teldranis hoped his reserves wouldn't be worn down too quickly by her youthful exuberance.

[Chiasa]

"Ahhh! That sounds boring, having to stay outta sight all the time. I don't see why, you're a pretty cool person. But you're a bit...stiff! You gotta have some fun sometimes, y'know." Chiasa pat his arm matter-of-factly and nodded. "You...do know what 'fun' is, right? Oh jeez, don't answer that, that was mean! Sometimes I don't think before I say stuff, just pops outta my mouth." She grinned and laughed a nervous laugh, but it passed as quickly as it came. "So how come you had to hide?"

[Teldranis]

"Your mayor requested that I do so. Things have changed since then." Teldranis said simply. He didn't feel that the whole story was worth mentioning. It might also have been that he simply didn't want to remember that day, if he was honest with himself.

[Chiasa]

Chiasa tilted her head curiously. "The mayor, huh? Well, 'least you can come out now, right? That's good. That means you get to meet new people out around town!" Chiasa laughed cheerfully. "Whadaya wanna do, Teldranis?" She began to hop from foot to foot excitedly.

[Teldranis]

"Truthfully, I know nothing of your ways. I wouldn't have the slightest sense of where to begin." Teldranis told her. "nor do I think anything in the first district caters to my species." He said, hoping that perhaps this girl would get bored of him soon. Terrans of that age were known to have short attention spans...

[Chiasa]

"Aaaahhh right, right! I forgot that you've only been here for a short while. Hmmm...jeez, I'm so indecisive! Maybe...hmm, no, that wouldn't work. Oh, oh! We could--- right, no food for you. Um...oh, rats. I'm all outta ideas. I guess we'll just wander around...or...hey, have you seen the lake?!" She got excited again, smiling hugely. "Well, I 'spose it isn't. A lake, that is. More of a pond, really. But you can see cool fish and stuff in it and go swimming...err...can you? Swim?"

[Teldranis]

"My armor's components are sensitive to water. I'd be incapable of swimming as I am now." Teldranis said, lying slightly in that he could merely remove the armor... but he refused to leave such technology out in the open... and he had nothing other than his armor to cover himself.

[Chiasa]

"Sooo? I mean if you really wanna swim you can take it off right? Armor that I've seen can come off. But if you don't want to swim it's okay. The view is just as nice! C'mon!" Chiasa grabbed Teldranis' arm and attempted to pull him in the direction of the 'lake'.

[Teldranis]

Teldranis's own height and weight caused him to hardly feel the pull, but he eventually consented. "I will come with you to see these fish." Teldranis said finally. This could be a good spot for meditation, after all, now he wasn't forced to stay within the alleyway.

[Chiasa]

"Yaaay! Yay! Thanks, Teldranis! Trust me, you'll like it. It's actually a little bit behind my house, y'know. That's the short cut." Chiasa held tightly to Tell's hand, leading him through the side streets to a small house. She pointed and smiled. "That's where I live. You can visit any time you want." She kept walking quickly past her house towards the back and led Tell a few minutes away to a quiet clearing with a pond, just as she described.

[Teldranis]

Teldranis followed the girl, slowing his steps so as not to tax her legs. Seeing the pond, Teldranis had to admit to his surprise. "This city is so urban by terran standards, I'm surprised to find a pond of fresh water here." Teldranis said with some shock.

[Chiasa]

"Heheh. Glad ya like it. Actually, it used to be a lake, but as the town grew, the lake shrunk. My dad protected it until he died, so now I take care of it in his place. It's pretty, huh?" Chiasa grinned proudly, letting go of Tell's hand to tend to a shrub patiently.

[Teldranis]

"It's a place exemplifying beauty in nature." Teldranis replied, looking over the pond and noticing the fish. Despite the bulk of his leg armor, his steps were soft, and he made the utmost care to not disturb any of the plants with his footsteps. As a protoss, he had been taught to respect nature in all ways, as the Xel'naga had before them. He made sure he wouldn't destroy a bastion such as this.

[Chiasa]

"You sure seem happy to be here. Which makes me happy! It's a nice little place and I come here all the time to tend to it. These flowers are aaaall mine. See?" She pointed triumphantly to the flowers bordering most of the pond. "Dad said I had a green thumb, whatever that means." Chiasa stared at her thumbs with scrutiny, as if checking for any traces of green.

[Teldranis]

"I see... How long have you been tending these? Teldranis asked. He realized at this point that this child likely had no caretaker, if she'd been doing all this work by herself. Her personality made more sense to Teldranis with this new context to frame her in, and he found himself actually impressed that she was capable of retaining happiness as she had despite the tragedy that had already occurred in her life.

[Chiasa]

"Mmm, give or take 3 or 4 years? Not too long, but long enough that the flowers are still blooming year after year." Chiasa smiled widely and simply plopped herself down om the ground beside the pond. "I think I like the pond most this time of year. All the little creatures living in the water are out and about." She smiled softly and watched as a small turtle ducked under water.

[Teldranis]

Teldranis nodded at that, taking a seated position as they stood there, in a cross-legged pattern. The feeling of the grass against his body, as opposed to the harsh feel of the stone and wood in the alleyway, was a welcome change.

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