It was a nice day.
Spring had arrived, and even though it had rained just the other day, the sun was out and bright and cheery now. The slightest of breezes rustled the leaves on the trees and the dew-dropped grass in the meadows. In a patch of pastel-colored buds, a lone flower was the first to blossom. The smell of spring, of fresh rain and flowers, sparkled in the air. It was truly a day to die for.
Well, not everyone had the same sentiment. Particularly one person, a little girl, lying on her back in the middle of the grassy fields next to the road. To her, it was a day she could die of.
I'm bored, Rina thought grumpily to herself as she squinted up at the sky.
For the past twenty minutes, Rina had been staring at the white clouds peacefully hovering above her, patiently - contrary to popular belief, she could so be patient - waiting for the funny shapes everyone talked about whenever they looked at the clouds. Besides a little cloud that reminded her of Ian with a moustache, she saw no bunnies, no dragons, no ice cream cones even. The clouds looked exactly like that: clouds.
Oh, Rina knew she could convince herself to see the weirdest and stupidest figures in those clouds - she was The Great Rina, after all. Her imagination was one with an infamous reputation which, she was quite proud to note, brought shudders to the people of Gaia. But the nice, evil, lazy spring day seemed to sap all the energy from her, and she just didn't feel like using her imagination, and dangit, the sun was burning her eyes. Cloud-gazing is silly, anyways. I don't see why Peyo is so fond of it.
At the sound of approaching footsteps, she half-turned her head towards the sound, only to have her nose just miss being squished to oblivion by a pair of shiny black shoes. She sat up with a yell, rubbing her nose hastily, as someone laughed above her. She pouted and aimed a punch to the person's leg.
"You almost squashed my nose, Ian! Apologize now!"
"No way, brat. Your fault for being so small anyone could step on you," Ian joked, in a wheezing tone. Rina's punches hurt like a mother. He winced as he rubbed his shin. "Why are you out here, rolling in the mud? Finally acting like the animal you are?"
He had to bend himself backwards to avoid the hail of rocks that were thrown at him. Luckily, knowing Rina developed some strange reflexes.
"You meanie, you're the only pig around here! I'm sicking Leon on you!" She fumed, but it was a show-fume. Her happy nature prevented it. So did her attention span.
"Speaking of which, let's head back to town before Leon starts frothing at the mouth. You really shouldn't make him worry so much, brat."
Rina, a demonic smirk making its way onto her face, jumped up onto the older man's back, with grace and speed only The Great Rina possessed. Ian yelped and tried shaking her off, but to no avail. He hung his head as he admitted defeat and started towards the gate to Barton.
"Giddy up, horsey-man," she practically yelled into his ear.
"Ugh, not only are you annoying, you're heavy too..."
Rina decided not to deign herself to comment. Besides, she already had her payback. She smirked. I hope Ian likes worms. He'll be happy to find twenty of them wriggling down his shirt.