Chapter One - Saying Goodbye to Rindu
Dawn looked wistfully outside of her window. Dusk was falling and falling quickly. The trees were slowly cloaked by a deep purple, red, and blue sky. The other children at Ridnu Orphanage were all outside playing...all except Dawn. Dawn played with a soft tendril of her dark, near jet-black hair that had obtained natural, chestnut streaks as years passed. Her eyes, which were a magnificent blue green with purple flecks looked downward from her attic room. The merry, little children had no clue that Dawn had the plans of escaping tonight. The evil, lethal headmistress didn't have any idea either. She planned on leaving at midnight, for any of the perils the real world had to offer were better then this. "Thirteen years," she thought as she sighed. "Thirteen years of what? Thirteen years of misery." She looked out to the path that would take her through the woods, and into the crude shelter she had built for this exact occasion. She didn't have to worry about anyone missing
her. Her best friends were nonexistent, and her headmistress, Miss Cinor, would just say, "Oh well, it is just one less mouth to feed."
Dawn chuckled to herself. One less mouth to feed, true, but that one less mouth had taken a week's worth of food. A black cat with silver and gray streaks walked into the room.
"Dawn, are you sure you want to leave tonight?" Storm asked softly, and for once patiently.
"Yes, Storm. What, is my precious kitten worried all of the sudden?" Dawn asked mockingly;
"Of course not, it is just that something is supposed to happen tonight, and I think you are supposed to be there."
"Yeah, of course. Just like something is supposed to happen every night," she responded as she picked up a brush to brush her hair. "Are you coming with me or not?"
"Of course I'm coming. I'm yours, aren't I?"
"Not really, you just came to me."
"Whatever."
"If only you were human," she said with a sigh.
"If I was a human I'd be as stupid, ignorant, and idle as the other humans in the orphanage."
"No need to insult them, Storm Donovan II."
"Noooo! I told you not to call me that! My name is Storm. Short, simple, and concise. Not Storm Donovan II!"
"If you say so, my dear kitty cat."
"Don't call me that either! I'm a tomcat, an alley cat, one of the toughest cats on the planet. I am not a kitty cat!"
"Shh, they'll hear you," Dawn said hesitantly.
"They'll just hear an angry cat hissing, yowling, and meowing rudely at you. They can't turn what I say into words."
"Oh yes, I forgot."
"You always forget."
"Then, I suppose I'll forget to bring you with me, tonight?"
"No! You can't do that! You need me!"
"Yes, it will be nice to have company." Storm rolled his eyes.
"I'm not company. You know that I'm your legal guardian. We went through that."
"I don't know..."
"You'll see."
"Well, I've got to go to dinner. You want anything?"
"I really don't think it wise for me to eat human table scraps." Dawn nodded and left. "Poor, little witch," Storm said carefully. I hope her uncle knows what he's done. She's a precious, little thing." He goes and sits at the window in thought. He ends up falling asleep, and he can already imagine Dawn's stay at Hogwarts. "That Draco Malfoy will be her nemesis for sure. He doesn't get along with anyone except Crabbe and Goyle," Storm muttered in his sleep.
"Well, Storm Donovan, how's my little niece doing?" a tall man in dark robes said as he suddenly appeared.
"Sir, she's perfectly healthy except she plans on running away from here. Tell Albus to forward the letter to the crude shelter she calls a hut."
"Well, it would be easier this way for that ninny they call a headmistress to get over her, and there will be less commotion about a witch in an orphanage."
"If you say so, Sir."
"You do know that you belong to her, and you were assigned to be hers since the day you were born."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that. No one will let me forget. How do you think it'll be since she has to skip several years? Her powers are obviously much more advanced then the first years. Just yesterday she made that jerk, Roger, fall down a flight of stairs by just wishing it. She'll certainly pass Professor Mc Gonnagal's class. She's already changed seven things, including me into a mouse...she isn't aware of the fact that she did it, but it was accomplished."
"She'll be with Harry's class. The fifth years."
"You mean, she'll be with Mr. Potter, the world's best warlock, Ron Weasley the, um, boy, and Hermione Granger the smartest witch ever?"
"Exactly."
"Don't you think that that is a lot of competition?"
"Not at all," the warlock said with a wry smile. "Not at all. I'd best be going. Keep an eye on Dawn, and make sure she gets to the hut safely."
"Are you sure it will be all right for a thirteen year old to be with a bunch of fifteen year olds?"
"Of course. I already spoke to Albus about it. He said it would be fine." The warlock winked at Storm and was gone.
"Must he do that?"
"Must who do what?" Dawn asked as she walked in.
"Oh, sorry. I was thinking of some previous piece of literature."
"If you say so Donovan."
"MY NAME IS STORM!!!"
"Of course it is," Dawn teased.
"Why don't we leave a couple of hours early? It'll be nicer that way."
"Are you sure, Storm?"
"Yes, I'm positive."
"You certainly are a fickle cat. First you said we shouldn't go and now you say we should go as soon as possible."
"I am not fickle."
"If you say so. Let's go, then. I'm already packed. Do you have anything that you want to bring?"
"I have nothing to carry except memories, now Dawn, let's go."
Dawn slowly and carefully walked to the window. She opened it even slower then she had walked to it. A sudden gust of wind came and nearly scared her out of her wits. Storm leaped onto the windowsill and measured the distance to a near-by tree branch. He raced down the tree as though he was racing against time. Dawn gulped. She reached out and got a firm grip on the tree branch. She pulled herself upward and released herself from the windowsill. She panted as she realized that the only thing keeping her from a gory death was a stupid tree branch. She brought her legs up so that she was in an upside down position.
"You look like a monkey, Dawn."
"You look like dog food, Storm." Storm sniffed at the insult. She swung herself around so that way she was on the branch in an upright position. She searched the tree for footholds, and she found a pretty good one. She gently placed her left foot there, and she slid down the tree with her arms holding on to various branches just in case her feet should give way. When she finally reached the ground she sighed contentedly. Cat and human raced side by side into the wood unnoticed.
"Good bye Rindu, thanks for everything," Dawn whispered. They got to Dawn's "shelter".
Dawn looked wistfully outside of her window. Dusk was falling and falling quickly. The trees were slowly cloaked by a deep purple, red, and blue sky. The other children at Ridnu Orphanage were all outside playing...all except Dawn. Dawn played with a soft tendril of her dark, near jet-black hair that had obtained natural, chestnut streaks as years passed. Her eyes, which were a magnificent blue green with purple flecks looked downward from her attic room. The merry, little children had no clue that Dawn had the plans of escaping tonight. The evil, lethal headmistress didn't have any idea either. She planned on leaving at midnight, for any of the perils the real world had to offer were better then this. "Thirteen years," she thought as she sighed. "Thirteen years of what? Thirteen years of misery." She looked out to the path that would take her through the woods, and into the crude shelter she had built for this exact occasion. She didn't have to worry about anyone missing
her. Her best friends were nonexistent, and her headmistress, Miss Cinor, would just say, "Oh well, it is just one less mouth to feed."
Dawn chuckled to herself. One less mouth to feed, true, but that one less mouth had taken a week's worth of food. A black cat with silver and gray streaks walked into the room.
"Dawn, are you sure you want to leave tonight?" Storm asked softly, and for once patiently.
"Yes, Storm. What, is my precious kitten worried all of the sudden?" Dawn asked mockingly;
"Of course not, it is just that something is supposed to happen tonight, and I think you are supposed to be there."
"Yeah, of course. Just like something is supposed to happen every night," she responded as she picked up a brush to brush her hair. "Are you coming with me or not?"
"Of course I'm coming. I'm yours, aren't I?"
"Not really, you just came to me."
"Whatever."
"If only you were human," she said with a sigh.
"If I was a human I'd be as stupid, ignorant, and idle as the other humans in the orphanage."
"No need to insult them, Storm Donovan II."
"Noooo! I told you not to call me that! My name is Storm. Short, simple, and concise. Not Storm Donovan II!"
"If you say so, my dear kitty cat."
"Don't call me that either! I'm a tomcat, an alley cat, one of the toughest cats on the planet. I am not a kitty cat!"
"Shh, they'll hear you," Dawn said hesitantly.
"They'll just hear an angry cat hissing, yowling, and meowing rudely at you. They can't turn what I say into words."
"Oh yes, I forgot."
"You always forget."
"Then, I suppose I'll forget to bring you with me, tonight?"
"No! You can't do that! You need me!"
"Yes, it will be nice to have company." Storm rolled his eyes.
"I'm not company. You know that I'm your legal guardian. We went through that."
"I don't know..."
"You'll see."
"Well, I've got to go to dinner. You want anything?"
"I really don't think it wise for me to eat human table scraps." Dawn nodded and left. "Poor, little witch," Storm said carefully. I hope her uncle knows what he's done. She's a precious, little thing." He goes and sits at the window in thought. He ends up falling asleep, and he can already imagine Dawn's stay at Hogwarts. "That Draco Malfoy will be her nemesis for sure. He doesn't get along with anyone except Crabbe and Goyle," Storm muttered in his sleep.
"Well, Storm Donovan, how's my little niece doing?" a tall man in dark robes said as he suddenly appeared.
"Sir, she's perfectly healthy except she plans on running away from here. Tell Albus to forward the letter to the crude shelter she calls a hut."
"Well, it would be easier this way for that ninny they call a headmistress to get over her, and there will be less commotion about a witch in an orphanage."
"If you say so, Sir."
"You do know that you belong to her, and you were assigned to be hers since the day you were born."
"Yes, I'm well aware of that. No one will let me forget. How do you think it'll be since she has to skip several years? Her powers are obviously much more advanced then the first years. Just yesterday she made that jerk, Roger, fall down a flight of stairs by just wishing it. She'll certainly pass Professor Mc Gonnagal's class. She's already changed seven things, including me into a mouse...she isn't aware of the fact that she did it, but it was accomplished."
"She'll be with Harry's class. The fifth years."
"You mean, she'll be with Mr. Potter, the world's best warlock, Ron Weasley the, um, boy, and Hermione Granger the smartest witch ever?"
"Exactly."
"Don't you think that that is a lot of competition?"
"Not at all," the warlock said with a wry smile. "Not at all. I'd best be going. Keep an eye on Dawn, and make sure she gets to the hut safely."
"Are you sure it will be all right for a thirteen year old to be with a bunch of fifteen year olds?"
"Of course. I already spoke to Albus about it. He said it would be fine." The warlock winked at Storm and was gone.
"Must he do that?"
"Must who do what?" Dawn asked as she walked in.
"Oh, sorry. I was thinking of some previous piece of literature."
"If you say so Donovan."
"MY NAME IS STORM!!!"
"Of course it is," Dawn teased.
"Why don't we leave a couple of hours early? It'll be nicer that way."
"Are you sure, Storm?"
"Yes, I'm positive."
"You certainly are a fickle cat. First you said we shouldn't go and now you say we should go as soon as possible."
"I am not fickle."
"If you say so. Let's go, then. I'm already packed. Do you have anything that you want to bring?"
"I have nothing to carry except memories, now Dawn, let's go."
Dawn slowly and carefully walked to the window. She opened it even slower then she had walked to it. A sudden gust of wind came and nearly scared her out of her wits. Storm leaped onto the windowsill and measured the distance to a near-by tree branch. He raced down the tree as though he was racing against time. Dawn gulped. She reached out and got a firm grip on the tree branch. She pulled herself upward and released herself from the windowsill. She panted as she realized that the only thing keeping her from a gory death was a stupid tree branch. She brought her legs up so that she was in an upside down position.
"You look like a monkey, Dawn."
"You look like dog food, Storm." Storm sniffed at the insult. She swung herself around so that way she was on the branch in an upright position. She searched the tree for footholds, and she found a pretty good one. She gently placed her left foot there, and she slid down the tree with her arms holding on to various branches just in case her feet should give way. When she finally reached the ground she sighed contentedly. Cat and human raced side by side into the wood unnoticed.
"Good bye Rindu, thanks for everything," Dawn whispered. They got to Dawn's "shelter".