AN: I'd like to know who created the idea of Monday! I just had the longest
day ever! I do believe that was because I had a physics test today at 4PM.
Of course, my classes start at 8:30 AM so I had the entire day to think
about it. Anywho, there are just like three weeks left in my semester! Then
I'm free, free, free! As always, all of you are the best, you make my week!
Keep up the reviewing!
LJP: Questions galore! Fun! Let's see...he could possible be sprouting some prophesy and I don't think the Power Rangers have anything on an elf with a sword. It is the Xavier School from the X-Men and there is one X-Man (maybe X-Person would be a better word) who keeps popping up. He/She is there for a reason. Let's just say, the Tae Kwan Do, in its round about way, will be her ticket out.
A Monkey's Harp: I can assure you, you're going to get a close encounter of the Middle Earth kind very soon. My karate instructor use to call us his wanna-be ninjas, especially me and this other girl. Feel free to come play in the sword ring with Niphredil and Sid!
hobbitgirl11: I'm dog tired but ok. How are you? As for my dance lessons, everything is pretty crazy. Two and half dances are done and ready to go for our June recital. Those being, my jazz, ballet, and private ballet dances. The two tap dances I'm in, however, aren't even partly done! I have like a monstrous numbers of tap rehearsals a week now. I wish I still took Tae Kwan Do but I had to stop after I graduated high school because my instructor retired.
sunni07: Thanks for the compliment! They're not very nice people and they're not big on being different. She breaks up the symmetry they have because she looks, acts, and basically is very different from them.
Elainor: The pick up will be made soon enough and she may get to see the other side of the coin. She may even like the other side of said coin better.
LalaithoftheBruinen: Thanks! Here's the next chapter! Someone from Middle Earth is going to crop up sooner than you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
"Butterfly, go home. It's getting late," Doc warned, watching Niphredil with a practiced eye.
Her class had ended nearly an hour ago, yet she was staying around. Not that he minded her company at all.
"I will, Doc, after I help you clean up," she stated, in a matter of fact voice, "and you know I can take care of myself."
Doc just shook his head and allowed Niphredil to help him tidy up the dojo. He had to give her credit. She could bend in ways his arthritic hips and knees would never allow him to, making cleaning the floor an easier task.
"You know, butterfly, I never though you'd last this long," Doc commented, trying to make conversation.
Niphredil looked up from her task and regarded her instructor with an odd expression. His nickname for her, "butterfly," she was use to. He'd started calling her than because he landed lighter than anyone in the class, not making a sound when she did so. He said there were other reasons to the nickname, ones he said he'd tell her in time. It was the fact he didn't believe she'd last that had caused the puzzled expression.
"Really?" she questioned, "How come?"
Doc gave Niphredil a crooked smile and answered, "I'm afraid to say I did, butterfly. You just didn't look like the martial arts type. I figured you'd take one or two hits, start to cry, and never come back. I mean, you walk in here this little caterpillar with dark hair and scared eyes and now, look at you. You're a full grown butterfly."
He laughed and added, "Be it a butterfly that can kick your rear end five ways from Friday."
Niphredil blushed, an almost cherry red staining her cheeks. She and Doc had always gotten along well, much to the chagrin of the rest of the class. He had said that she was part warrior, that something in her was far stronger than she'd ever know. It was that same something that kept her alive in the home she lived in. "I really wish you didn't have to retire, Doc. It's going to be hard to figure out what to do if I can't come here and work with you," Niphredil admitted, staring at her bare feet.
"Ah, butterfly, I wish I could stay and train you and the rest of the team. Unlike you, I seem to be getting old and the hips and knees are what they se to be," the instruct said, groaning as he hobbled about the room.
"I know but sill," Niphredil, glumly, groaned tailing off.
Doc did have a point though. Where everyone in the class seemed to age from the time she had first met them, very little about her had changed. She'd been slow to catch up with them in many respects and was still, to this day, tailing behind them. There was no person she could attribute this strange lack of aging to. Maybe it was from her real parents, maybe it wasn't. She couldn't say.
Doc was one of the few people, the other being Hope and her family, who were genuinely kind to Niphredil. The "team," Oriental Angie, the triple threat that was Benny, Lenny, and Manny, silent Omar, fierce Carla, and serious Sid, had been friendly toward her but she knew that it was just a façade. She heard their little comments about how weird she was.
She finished cleaning up; making sure the wide room was in ship shape. Noise began to filter into the room coming from the waiting area. Niphredil was pretty sure she was the only one who heard the faint sounds of conversation wafting into the room.
"Doc, I had better get going. Your adult self defense class is here," Niphredil stated, lacing up the shoes that had been resting in the far corner of the room with her bag.
"Let them wait!" Doc called, hobbling over to the far side of the room, "I have something for you."
He walked over to his wide tan satchel, pulling on an item wrapped in an old terry cloth towel. Carrying the item with the utmost care, he hobbled over to Niphredil.
"This is for you," he stated, hading the wrapped item to Niphredil with a flourish.
She took the item from her instructor with a short, but polite bow. Unfolding it, she revealed an Asian looked sword in a soft leather sheath. She recognized it as the sword she used in competition, the one that had won her so many of her awards.
"Doc, I can't..." Niphredil breathed, trying to hand the item back to Doc.
Though she wanted to keep it in the worst way, she knew it wasn't right. This was a far too rich gift for a girl like her.
"It's yours, butterfly, you've earned it. I can't tell you how many competitions you've won me with that think. Your skill has paid for it thrice over," Doc stated, refusing to take back.
"Thank you," Niphredil breathed, pulling the sword out of its sheath.
On one side of the sword, etched into the blade, were Asian characters spelling out her name and matching the characters found on her third-degree black belt. The characters on the other side however were wholly unrecognizable.
"What do these say?" she questioned, tracing them over with her fingers.
"Butterfly and Blizzard," Doc replied, indicating which character meant what, "Butterfly because that's what I call you and Blizzard because that's the name of the sword."
Niphredil, reverently, placed the sword back in its sheath and pulled the Tae Kwan Do instructor into a tight hug.
"I know, butterfly, I'm going to miss you too," he stated.
Breaking the embrace, he added, "Be careful getting home, butterfly."
"I will, Doc," she called, in reply, waving as she walked out.
The strange, old eyes were absent as she stepped onto the street. The air had a bit to it, chilling her and numbing her hands ever so slightly.
"So, now what?" she mused, staring up and down the street.
The night was still young and she had been told to avoid coming back home. She knew she couldn't walk the streets all night with her gym bag in one hand and the sword, still wrapped up, in the other. Chances were good she would get arrested for doing just that.
A loud growl, coming from her stomach, indicated her next stop.
She walked a few blocks over, knowing exactly where she wanted to go. Hope's father, a tall man with a pencil thin moustache named Matthew, owned an Italian deli a few blocks over from the school his wife worked at and his children attended.
She stopped in buying one of Matthew's famous sandwiches and a huge bottle of water. It was the first thing she had eaten since lunch.
Finding an empty bench just outside the small deli, Niphredil sat down to eat.
So involved in her meal and her own thoughts was Niphredil that she failed to notice the figure watching her from across the way. Like a white clad ghost he moved across the street coming to stop just off of Niphredil's right side.
"Is this seat taken?" asked a voice, ancient sounding but wise, breaking Niphredil's reverie.
"No, of course no," Niphredil replied, scooting over.
She heard the person groan as he or she sat down, causing the elven maiden to look up. Her dark eyes went wide with shock and the sandwich fell from her hands.
Sitting next to her was the old man. The same old man she had seen earlier. The same old man whose eyes had been watching her for weeks on end.
LJP: Questions galore! Fun! Let's see...he could possible be sprouting some prophesy and I don't think the Power Rangers have anything on an elf with a sword. It is the Xavier School from the X-Men and there is one X-Man (maybe X-Person would be a better word) who keeps popping up. He/She is there for a reason. Let's just say, the Tae Kwan Do, in its round about way, will be her ticket out.
A Monkey's Harp: I can assure you, you're going to get a close encounter of the Middle Earth kind very soon. My karate instructor use to call us his wanna-be ninjas, especially me and this other girl. Feel free to come play in the sword ring with Niphredil and Sid!
hobbitgirl11: I'm dog tired but ok. How are you? As for my dance lessons, everything is pretty crazy. Two and half dances are done and ready to go for our June recital. Those being, my jazz, ballet, and private ballet dances. The two tap dances I'm in, however, aren't even partly done! I have like a monstrous numbers of tap rehearsals a week now. I wish I still took Tae Kwan Do but I had to stop after I graduated high school because my instructor retired.
sunni07: Thanks for the compliment! They're not very nice people and they're not big on being different. She breaks up the symmetry they have because she looks, acts, and basically is very different from them.
Elainor: The pick up will be made soon enough and she may get to see the other side of the coin. She may even like the other side of said coin better.
LalaithoftheBruinen: Thanks! Here's the next chapter! Someone from Middle Earth is going to crop up sooner than you think!
Disclaimer: I own nothing except for a handful of made up characters. Tolkien thought up the concept and, as such, it belongs to him. I'm just playing in his world. I'm broke and in college. All I own are Pointe Shoes.
"Butterfly, go home. It's getting late," Doc warned, watching Niphredil with a practiced eye.
Her class had ended nearly an hour ago, yet she was staying around. Not that he minded her company at all.
"I will, Doc, after I help you clean up," she stated, in a matter of fact voice, "and you know I can take care of myself."
Doc just shook his head and allowed Niphredil to help him tidy up the dojo. He had to give her credit. She could bend in ways his arthritic hips and knees would never allow him to, making cleaning the floor an easier task.
"You know, butterfly, I never though you'd last this long," Doc commented, trying to make conversation.
Niphredil looked up from her task and regarded her instructor with an odd expression. His nickname for her, "butterfly," she was use to. He'd started calling her than because he landed lighter than anyone in the class, not making a sound when she did so. He said there were other reasons to the nickname, ones he said he'd tell her in time. It was the fact he didn't believe she'd last that had caused the puzzled expression.
"Really?" she questioned, "How come?"
Doc gave Niphredil a crooked smile and answered, "I'm afraid to say I did, butterfly. You just didn't look like the martial arts type. I figured you'd take one or two hits, start to cry, and never come back. I mean, you walk in here this little caterpillar with dark hair and scared eyes and now, look at you. You're a full grown butterfly."
He laughed and added, "Be it a butterfly that can kick your rear end five ways from Friday."
Niphredil blushed, an almost cherry red staining her cheeks. She and Doc had always gotten along well, much to the chagrin of the rest of the class. He had said that she was part warrior, that something in her was far stronger than she'd ever know. It was that same something that kept her alive in the home she lived in. "I really wish you didn't have to retire, Doc. It's going to be hard to figure out what to do if I can't come here and work with you," Niphredil admitted, staring at her bare feet.
"Ah, butterfly, I wish I could stay and train you and the rest of the team. Unlike you, I seem to be getting old and the hips and knees are what they se to be," the instruct said, groaning as he hobbled about the room.
"I know but sill," Niphredil, glumly, groaned tailing off.
Doc did have a point though. Where everyone in the class seemed to age from the time she had first met them, very little about her had changed. She'd been slow to catch up with them in many respects and was still, to this day, tailing behind them. There was no person she could attribute this strange lack of aging to. Maybe it was from her real parents, maybe it wasn't. She couldn't say.
Doc was one of the few people, the other being Hope and her family, who were genuinely kind to Niphredil. The "team," Oriental Angie, the triple threat that was Benny, Lenny, and Manny, silent Omar, fierce Carla, and serious Sid, had been friendly toward her but she knew that it was just a façade. She heard their little comments about how weird she was.
She finished cleaning up; making sure the wide room was in ship shape. Noise began to filter into the room coming from the waiting area. Niphredil was pretty sure she was the only one who heard the faint sounds of conversation wafting into the room.
"Doc, I had better get going. Your adult self defense class is here," Niphredil stated, lacing up the shoes that had been resting in the far corner of the room with her bag.
"Let them wait!" Doc called, hobbling over to the far side of the room, "I have something for you."
He walked over to his wide tan satchel, pulling on an item wrapped in an old terry cloth towel. Carrying the item with the utmost care, he hobbled over to Niphredil.
"This is for you," he stated, hading the wrapped item to Niphredil with a flourish.
She took the item from her instructor with a short, but polite bow. Unfolding it, she revealed an Asian looked sword in a soft leather sheath. She recognized it as the sword she used in competition, the one that had won her so many of her awards.
"Doc, I can't..." Niphredil breathed, trying to hand the item back to Doc.
Though she wanted to keep it in the worst way, she knew it wasn't right. This was a far too rich gift for a girl like her.
"It's yours, butterfly, you've earned it. I can't tell you how many competitions you've won me with that think. Your skill has paid for it thrice over," Doc stated, refusing to take back.
"Thank you," Niphredil breathed, pulling the sword out of its sheath.
On one side of the sword, etched into the blade, were Asian characters spelling out her name and matching the characters found on her third-degree black belt. The characters on the other side however were wholly unrecognizable.
"What do these say?" she questioned, tracing them over with her fingers.
"Butterfly and Blizzard," Doc replied, indicating which character meant what, "Butterfly because that's what I call you and Blizzard because that's the name of the sword."
Niphredil, reverently, placed the sword back in its sheath and pulled the Tae Kwan Do instructor into a tight hug.
"I know, butterfly, I'm going to miss you too," he stated.
Breaking the embrace, he added, "Be careful getting home, butterfly."
"I will, Doc," she called, in reply, waving as she walked out.
The strange, old eyes were absent as she stepped onto the street. The air had a bit to it, chilling her and numbing her hands ever so slightly.
"So, now what?" she mused, staring up and down the street.
The night was still young and she had been told to avoid coming back home. She knew she couldn't walk the streets all night with her gym bag in one hand and the sword, still wrapped up, in the other. Chances were good she would get arrested for doing just that.
A loud growl, coming from her stomach, indicated her next stop.
She walked a few blocks over, knowing exactly where she wanted to go. Hope's father, a tall man with a pencil thin moustache named Matthew, owned an Italian deli a few blocks over from the school his wife worked at and his children attended.
She stopped in buying one of Matthew's famous sandwiches and a huge bottle of water. It was the first thing she had eaten since lunch.
Finding an empty bench just outside the small deli, Niphredil sat down to eat.
So involved in her meal and her own thoughts was Niphredil that she failed to notice the figure watching her from across the way. Like a white clad ghost he moved across the street coming to stop just off of Niphredil's right side.
"Is this seat taken?" asked a voice, ancient sounding but wise, breaking Niphredil's reverie.
"No, of course no," Niphredil replied, scooting over.
She heard the person groan as he or she sat down, causing the elven maiden to look up. Her dark eyes went wide with shock and the sandwich fell from her hands.
Sitting next to her was the old man. The same old man she had seen earlier. The same old man whose eyes had been watching her for weeks on end.