Posts by FawnChaser

(Sure. No problem. :) )

"No,, David. I don't think you understand. They want to adopt me," Zhalia replied, a tears slipping down her cheeks. "I don't want to go to another family, but they don't even have to ask my permission. If they sign those papers and they become my gardens, they might decide to move halfway across the country," she whispered, curling up tighter.

As Lillian blushed, Mavis slowly stepped into the room arm in arm with a stranger. She frowned, seeing Andy. "That's him. I'm divorcing him, just so you know," she added with a scowl, as the two walked over to the table. "Hello, honey," she added sarcastically, as they approached the table. "This is Alucard. He's a curator at the Vampiric Artifacts Museum in the London Underground."

(Here's to Spring Break and more writing time!)

Tris blushed, kissing him back. After a few hours, the sun began to sink and Tris packed up the supplies they would need for the trip. "Ready to go?" she called, carefully setting the bag of supplies in the car. "The zoo should be closed in about five minutes and all the workers will want to be heading home early tonight, because of the predicted snowstorm. It's really perfect," she added.

Tris smiled, walking into the store alongside him. After they got a few basic foods, they headed to the zoo. Tris had silently teleported the food home, so now all that was left was having a good time. Sunlight was streaming through the clouds behind them and the zoo's golden gates glittered slightly from far off. "It looks amazing!" Tris exclaimed, dashing through the parking lot. The walls of the zoo were painted with various different animals and landscapes, with colors both new and familiar to the young girl. She smiled, pausing by the wall to wait for her Dad, while admiring a beautiful painting of a jaguar stalking through a sun dappled forest.

Tris bit her lip. "I'm sorry, David," she whispered, looking down at her hands. How many times had she killed simply to get away? She shuddered and silently stared at the ground for the rest of their short walk.

Tris suddenly paused, face white. While searching through the rocks, here eyes had fallen on a rune that she had only seen one other time. "We have to go. Now!" she called, grabbing onto Cassandra and pulling her from the caves. The second she was outside, Tris pulled off her now useless collar and tossed it into the cave. "Quick, everyone! Toss your collars in there and let's get out of here," she called.

Already, the mountain that they had been working in began to shake. The slaves had all taken their collars off and were heading straight back to their barracks. In an almost stampede, they rushed through the village, packing up food, clothing, water, and blankets. In seconds, the village was stripped bare. Tris frowned, staring at the mountain as it blew skyward. "Come on. We have to leave. If we get off the planet now, no one will come looking for us. They'll think we died in the caves. But, if we stay, they'll find us with whoever was crazy enough to hang around in the village and cart us off to a new master."

The team quickly climbed onto speeders and they all took off. Seeing Nickolai's confused expression, Mira explained, "Tris saw the Clathga rune. It means that Drake's dead and his mines were rigged to blow, basically. So, we leave camp and hope we can find a space craft before the slavers come!" she called over the wind.

Jace shouted in surprise, barely managing to grab onto Tris as she passed out and nearly fell off the speeder. Grasping onto her shirt, he carefully pulled her in front of him and held her shoulder to make sure she wouldn't fall. "We have a problem, guys!" he called, speeder racing across the sand and kicking up red sand.

Ven bit her lip. "We can't help her now. We have to keep moving. Do you know where we can get a ship?" she asked, struggling to make her voice heard over the wind.

Mira replied angrily, "We have to get her medical attention now. She'll get worse if we don't help her soon. She needs medicine."

"Yeah? All I see 'round 'ere is sand! What'cha ya want me to treat her with?" Ven snarled back, speeder racing forward towards the largest space port on Svartel.

Axel bit his lip. "I say we leave the girl with Nickolai," he suggested. "We can drop them off near a spaceport with half our credits and move on."

Mira frowned. "You want to dump her off as fast as you can after she slaved away for us for over four years. Bastards! The lot of you...." she hissed.

Jace bit his lip. "To be fair, we don't have a lot to go around. And the little one's already dying. Better to let her die peacefully. As for Nickolai, it's up to him. We drop them off at the nearest space port with minimal chances or we keep going and she dies on the speeder."

Mira frowned. "I don't like it, but if Nickolai agrees then so be it." Turning to Nick, she asked, "What'll it be?"

(Sorry. Semi-low muse.)

Tris smiled shyly, then slipped into her room. She silently lay down and stared at the wall, trembling lightly. Blood flowed past her in a dream and she shuddered, waking up in a cold sweat. The girl silently climbed to her feet and wandered downstairs to the kitchen. Looking through the food, she silently began to make a soup, hands shaking slightly as she poured ingredients and measured spices. She silently served the soup out into bowls, turned the stove off, and tip-toed back to her room, curling up by the wall and crying softly.

(Under construction.)

~ Under construction. ~

~ Under construction. ~

(Well I added more later, but thank you.)

The team let Nickolai and Tris leave, along with a bag of credits and some food, water, and blankets that were tied in a satchel slung across Tris' shoulder. Mira wished the team good bye and then they left, racing towards the nearest space port.

Tris liked being part of the darkness. It was soft and gentle and easy to slip away in. She wanted to stay here forever, melting in and out of the dark. When Nickolai re-materialized outside the space port, Tris remained in the dark mist for a few more seconds. When she finally materialized in his arms, she was paler and seemed to be drifting away.

The space port was loud; that was the only to put it. From the time they stepped inside to the time they boarded the space craft, a cacophony of shouts and garbled conversation, not to mention the everyday hustle and bustle of city life, filled their ears. Vendors called out prices for everything from pies to rich silks to ancient magical artifacts that they claimed "had been lost to time under the sands".

Nickolai quickly steered them over to a space ship lot. A seller called out a space craft for about two hundred credits. A little bit later, they were drifting through space and Nickolai gently laid Tris down on to a reclined chair (basically, turns it into a cot with a seat buckle), covering her with one of the blankets, and snapping the seat belt on. When he bent to check her pulse, it was threading and weak. Feeling his hands pressing down slightly on her arm, Tris opened her eyes and blinked.

The girl looked immensely tired and she seemed slightly surprised by the interior of the ship that they were traveling on. Finally, she whispered, "Where are we?"

(No. They all decide to let them leave by themselves. Ironic fact: If Nickolai had left Tris there, they might have decided to come... )

Tris watched Nickolai, stunned into silence by his eyes. She shyly lifted her fingers, brushing them through the silky black that surrounded them. The ship around them gleamed softly in the light and Tris blinked, slowly registering the IV chord in her arm.

Yawning softly, she whispered, "I think I'm okay. Where are we going?" Her eyes slowly came to rest on Cassandra and she smiled softly. She liked this dream already, especially now that Cassandra was here. "Where are the others? Mira? Ven? Jace and Axel? Why aren't they here with you too?"

Suddenly, Tris noticed the darkness solidifying by Nickolai's left shoulder. Her eyes widened with fear and she struggled to get back. "Wh-who's this?" she asked, trembling in fear. Unfortunately, despite her efforts, she could barely stir let alone try and run away.

(Okay.... Now, I have a bad muse.)

"I'm tired," Tris replied honestly, looking up at him. She quietly wiped away her tears and wandered over to sit by him. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

Tris nodded quietly. "Oh.... Mister? I mean..... Well, Mister David, sir...... Do you think I still have a forever family? I mean, what if they died or something?" she asked softly. Her fingers silently curled around the edge of her shirt and she silently rocked back and forth. "What if..... What if they never let me out? No matter how good I am?"

Tris looked up in confusion. "I didn't make any soup...." she added softly.

Tris nodded shyly. "Oh," she whispered lightly, getting to her feet. "I'm going to go eat, if you don't mind. Quietly, the young vampire wandered downstairs and drank down a bowl of the soup she'd made. She didn't remember making it though and now she felt very tired. Yawning, she curled up against the window and struggled to stay awake long enough to finish her soup.

Tris silently slipped outside after her soup. She hid her fangs, shyly wandering through the village. Curiously, the girl stopped by a few of the kids that were playing outside and waved.

Tris smiled, walking over and being careful to hide her fangs. "What are you playing? Can I join in?" she asked. Now, that she was going to be a little kid for the rest of her life she figured she might as well enjoy it.

Tris looked up at these words, an eyebrow raised in surprise and shock. They had abandoned her after she'd been sick? Had they even paused to consider the possibility that she would make it? Even for a second? The girl bit her lip, staring back up at Nickolai. "Mira... Ven... Did anyone speak out? The story you just told me doesn't seem like them at all?" she managed, slowly climbing over the words.

Her eyes wandered over to Cassandra and she frowned. "Is it true..? What Nickolai is saying?" the child asked, not seeming to notice Cassandra's worry at the moment. Her eyes glazed slightly and she blinked, feeling a wave of warmth and sleepiness wash over her. It was hard to keep her eyes open.

As Nickolai began to speak again, Tris gradually lifted her head in an attempt to register what he was saying. Her brain felt as if it had been clogged up with oatmeal pudding; none of the words were coming through clearly. "Rest... going to find a place... both of us... we can... happy... Cassandra... stay here... I fly.... ship... take it easy... leave it to me..." Even when she could make out the words, they sounded disjointed and foggy. Nickolai bent down to kiss her cheek and she smiled softly, whispering a thank you then watching him head over to the controls.

Cassandra started singing the lullaby again and Tris closed her eyes, picturing the warm sand and the bright moon of Svartel. Tears filled her eyes and she looked away, picturing the crew there with them. Sighing lightly, she gazed back up at Cassandra. "Did they really want to leave me for dead?" the girl asked softly. Tris didn't want to believe it; she couldn't ignore it if it was true though.

(So sorry!!! I'm back and actually attempting to reply more. :) Thank you for your patience. )

Zhalia sighed softly then nodded. "I'm sure you're right, David. I'm just worried that they won't care about how I feel... Or what I want..." Staring up at the sky, she smiled lightly. "But it doesn't hurt to ask. Thank you for all of this," she added, kissing his cheek lightly. "I suppose I should get to class now. Meet you after school tonight?"

Tris slowly got to her feet, waking up after the long nap she'd had on the couch. The girl stretched, then wandered over to the kitchen and made herself some lunch and began to eat. Spotting Ian across the lawn, she opened the door and wandered over after finishing her salad. "Hey!" she called. "Are you feeling any better?"

Lillian wrinkled her nose, disgusted by Mavis' behaviour. As the language turned foul, she covered Kimiko's ears and, after nodding to Patrick to let him know that she'd wait with their little girl, she looked away. When Patrick, Mavis, and Andy left, Lillian released her hold on Kimiko and they resumed eating gradually. Lillian wanted to make sure that Kimiko was fed; then she would head out to get the guys.

Mavis rolled her eyes apathetically, completely unphased by Patrick's threats. Taking Alucard's arm, she ignored the stares the customers were giving her and left at a leisurely pace. (Exit Mavis 'til Divorce Trials.)

Tris nodded absentmindedly. Her eyes rested on the cart across the street, filled with fresh fruits and vegetables; she turned back to Greg and smiled once she noticed that he was busy buying admissions passes. Good, Tris thought, that gave her plenty of time to grab a snack and get back before he noticed she was gone. Darting across the parking lot, she dashed past the cart and grabbed a pear. The peddler looked up, noticing her theft, and began to dash after her while yelling at bystanders for help. One man, seeing her in time, stretched out his foot and Tris winced as she tripped.

The girl stretched her hands out and braced herself against the concrete as the peddler caught up to her. A nearby police officer stepped out of the crowd and handcuffed her quickly, returning the pear to the salesman. After listening to the witnesses and collecting the information for his report, he dragged Tris over to his police car. "Do you have parents, kid?" he asked gruffly, as he gently guided her into the backseat.

Tris bit her lip, watching her newly adopted father stride towards them from across the parking lot. "Over there," she whispered, pointing to Greg as her cheeks grew red in embarrassment.