They did not meet again for two sweeps. This was fine with the Girl, of course. She was used to seeing people once, maybe twice. Truthfully, the Woman had slipped from her mind entirely by the time of this, their second meeting.
She trudges along through the sands, having recently finished a job. The Woman is far from her mind and instead her mind is solely focused on not returning to the mansion. She'll probably be beaten for it, especially if she arrives "late". At the moment, however, she doesn't really care. Even a brief moment of freedom is worth it, punishment or no.
For about an hour her time alone is entirely worthwhile, she thinks. There's no one to talk to and definitely no one to order her around. Even had she wanted company, which she somewhat wanted admittedly, there was no one on this damned planet with a drop of concern for a child. Certainly not a lowblood child. She'd just have to run if she ran into anyone alone; the likelihood of attempted murder or enslavement was simply too high.
This came about because of her actions, she has finally learned. While the course of things is still unclear to her she better understands what this means, at least in concept.
The thought is somewhat troubling, and it's souring her moment of freedom some. She kicks a rock that she spies. Watching it tumble down a dune she tries to think only on that one simple act of violence. Yes. Good. Much better than the overwhelming knowledge that even should she be able to run away there wouldn't be a moment to stop. The kicking is entirely of her own volition though. Yes, it may be fated to happen but for the moment she doesn't care. It still feels meaningful.
So caught up in this the Girl doesn't notice that a troll is coming up behind her. No, instead of paying attention like she should be she gathers more rocks to violence. One she throws, another she kicks, and a third she nudges again and again until it tumbles down. This is stupid and dumb, but it's amusing and that is all that counts until she hears someone say, "Oh, hello there!"
The Girl's eyes widen and she turns around to see an adult troll. Fully grown trolls are never a good thing to run into alone when things aren't on your terms. The troll is a tall woman, lanky and thin, and she is dressed in a dress colored here and there with a dark green. Judging by Alternian fashion sense, of which there were few rules, she'd likely be a jade blood. That fact alone would have been weird enough to the Girl and anyone else, but there was something that blew that fact out of the water: in the Woman's arms was a grub of a sickly red color. What kind of gross weirdo takes mutant grubs with them? Or grubs at all?
Friendly seeming or no, the Girl doesn't feel like risking a scuffle. She turns around and runs off, planning to head to back to the mansion. A fact that makes her swear. Everything was fine and fun, and it was supposed to stay that way. She ignores the call of, "You don't have to run! And where is your lusus? You shouldn't be out alone!" The Woman continues to protest this all, and the Girl guesses that she might follow which would be a bother. She won't be caught though. She can't be caught.
Not unless she's a stupid idiot who trips over her own damned feet though. Which she is. Ankle twisting the Girl sucks in a breath from the pain. Though she tries to catch herself she fails and over the edge of the sand dune she goes. The damnable jadeblood continues to cry out, God knows what it is right now. The Girl isn't exactly paying attention as she rolls down the sand.
And then she finally comes to a pause. Everything hurts and this whole rebellion thing is officially no longer worth it. A beating and a scolding AND falling down a hill while some freak harasses her. Said freak wasn't letting up either, as the Girl sees. The Woman calls out that she'll only be a moment and that, oh, she hopes you're fine, sorry. Which adds to the Girl's ever growing list of reasons to find this person entirely sketchy. God, she hopes that she falls. The Woman does not, though. She comes close to it, stumbling on her way down but catching herself. God dammit, she hasn't fallen over and the one possible delight of this situation is now dead. Sighing, the Girl stands up, and begins brushing the sand off her skirt. Can't be punished for dirty clothes on top of all this.
The Girl wrinkles her nose at all this, and she looks around her. At her feet is a rock, one of the ones she tossed, she figures. Kneeling down she picks it up. Let the Woman come, she'll show her. Then off to the manse it'll be. Unfortunately.
Grub still in her arms the Woman closes the distance between them. The grub is hissing in upset and why wouldn't it be, being dragged down a hill by some freak. Cringing the Girl watches as the Woman tries to shush the thing up, as she should. Still the Woman is doing it not out of annoyance seemingly. There's not a hint of exasperation to her. If anything she looks concerned, a fact which is added to the list.
"Sorry about that, again. I didn't mean to scare you," the Woman says to her as she nuzzles the grub. It seems mollified by this and finally ceases in its hissing. The thing does take a nip at the Woman's cheek though. Good. Really, the Girl should just leave now. She definitely has the opportunity, but this whole display is intriguing. It's just so counter to everything she knows about her kind. Granted, it could just be some exceptionally convoluted ruse for thieving, who knows. That seemed by far the most likely thing at the moment, actually. Bitten or no the Woman gives the grub a kiss on the head. Why the gesture outside of romance the Girl can't guess. Unless it is romantic in which case the Girl really doesn't want to know. The thieving angle remains the most likely in her mind.
However, the Woman isn't content to just stand there and continue with her charade from a distance. No, she makes her way closer to the Girl. She tries to nose her way about and check for injuries by the sound of her muttering. The Girl steps back and hisses at the Woman.
Frowning at the Girl the Woman takes the hint. She steps back and gives a huff of frustration. The moment doesn't last long though, because the Woman's face softens right back and she says, "Sorry about that. I just want to make sure that you're not hurt. I'll keep back if you honestly want." No response is made. She waits a moment before asking, "Can I check?"
"No."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
The Woman wrinkles her nose and shifts her hold on the grub a bit. "You're not a very talkative child are you? Suspicious though, which is a good trait. Unfortunately," she says.
"No and yes," the Girl answers. She squeezes her rock firmly, a fact that the Woman seems to notice. That is a cause for concern. Most things on Alternia are causes for concern really, because most anything can be and usually is a threat.
Threat or not the Woman doesn't try to throttle the Girl for her insolence. No, she kneels down to get at eye level with her. A scolding doesn't come like she expects it to. The Woman just asks, "Where's your custodian?" It is a question the Girl refuses to answer, even though the answer is "I don't have one." The Woman isn't daunted however, "Are they hiding? Maybe you've got a nice clever lusus hiding in the dunes? They can come out you know." Her tone is strange. She lacks a businesslike terseness to her, and she's not upset with the Girl. The Girl thinks it's odd but she doesn't say that. Instead she just glares at the weirdo.
The Woman's smile falls a bit and the Girl tenses up instinctively. Now is when she gets attacked, surely. It was in every other situation. She steps back, trying to get enough distance to toss her rock without alerting the Woman to her intentions. No attack comes though. The Woman simply asks, "You're not an orphan are you?" Most trolls would look uninterested at that question, or even overjoyed. Easy kill or easy slave, either way. The Woman does not though. If anything she looks pained. Nothing of that seems right, and so the Girl refuses to answer. What would there be to say anyway?
"If you are I'd be happy enough to take you along with me," the Woman says. Slavery. To be expected, the Girl thinks and she takes another step back. She has enough distance between herself and this weirdo now. Good. "Please don't misunderstand. I mean, it does sound very off and like I'm here to collect a slave. That's honestly not my intention though. More, I'd like to look after you. I already have this grub I'm acting like a sort of lusus to, so why not you as well?" the Woman says with seeming sincerity. How she can say that sincerely the Girl doesn't understand.
Shocked as she is the Girl doesn't have a reaction to it. Definitely not in words. She stops glaring at the Woman, if only because she's so taken aback by this. What the fuck was this person?
"I won't force you, and I definitely can't anyway. Still if you are alone, I'd rather you not be. Alternia's not a safe place for children, and certainly not those without a custodian. I'd like to try my best to keep you out of trouble if I can," the Woman says smiling widely, "Granted, this probably will get us into trouble won't it?" The grub wriggles in her arms and bites her again. She winces and chides it for this. Without missing a beat however she goes back to her mad rambling, "You don't just run about with a grub, and definitely not a mutant after all. Still, I can't see just leaving you here alone. If you are an orphan that is."
"No," the Girl says and, seeing the coming retort, she adds, "I have a guardian." It's true really, she supposes. Just not in the way the Woman probably expects.
The Woman stands up and says, "A run away then? I know how that goes. I ran away from my lusus when I was younger too. Or twice maybe?" She pauses to think on that a moment and shakes her head. "The number of times doesn't really matter," she says, "God, I can't even remember exactly why I ran away now. I did though, because I was fed up with my lusus and I wanted to see things before I ended up in the caverns. That was probably why I left, if I think about it. Not being able to just go places. I felt rather proud of myself, look at me a big girl off on my own. After a few hours though, I realized that I made a mistake." The Woman pauses again, as if to wait for a response from the Girl. As if she actually cares for her input. She doesn't get any and so she continues, "Whatever your problems with your custodian are they can't be that bad. Why don't you try and go back to them? They probably miss you, you know?"
"Ok," the Girl says, guessing that the Woman will want some sort of answer. If that will shut her up then good. She'd have to go back but she didn't want to. It'd be away from this freak, however. Still, it's not what the Girl wants to do. Really admitting to having a guardian was a mistake, because now her mood is thoroughly soured. She does her best not to show it though.
"You know with those horns and that attitude of yours you remind me a bit of someone I know. A friend of mine, I guess. It's kind of hard to tell with her," the Woman says as she sits down. She gently sets the grub down in her lap, and looks down at it. Probably checking that it's fine. Satisfied she pulls from her a sylladex a book. The Girl watches as she turns it over in her hands fondly. "It's a nice book, really. God knows how many times I've read the thing. Not everyone has the taste for religious verse, but I always did. Something just seems right about the endless drone. Comforting and like an old friend, even if it does drag on a bit at times," the Woman says. She purses her lips, probably thinking about something. What, the Girl isn't certain. Not until the Woman holds out the book towards the Girl.
The Girl raises a brow and looks at the book. She can guess that it's supposed to be a gift, but the Girl doesn't really understand that. It's not that she hadn't been given things. Certainly she had, but they were never gifts. Just things she'd need or that He wanted her to have for whatever reason. The Woman says, "It's a gift, silly. Just take this book and run on home, all right? Your lusus is probably more than willing to give you more than just books, after all."
Oh. It's a bribe. Figures. Still the Girl takes the book, act of faux charity or no, because she knows the Woman won't shut up otherwise. Which is stupid now that she thinks of it. She could have just left anytime she wanted to. What's done is done though. Book in hand and glaring at the Woman she takes a step back. The Woman picks the grub back up and stands. As she brushes herself off the Girl makes a run for it. This time the Woman doesn't seem to mind. There's no calling after her or anything. It was just a bribe.
A suitable distance away the Girl slides behind a tree. Taking a breath she looks down at the book still in her hand. Bribe or not it's something. It's a book and not one of her history books that He gave her. Something that is hers in a weird sense. It will just be taken away, she knows, and so she tosses it down. The book isn't hers, whatever she thinks. For the moment though it is and so she picks it back up. It'll be taken away, but for now it's hers to read. Dumb or not, she stops to read a bit of it. This really isn't her sort of thing at all, but at least it's not a history book or one of those horrible books of traditional Alternian blueblood poetry. It's something new and she sits down as she reads.
More stupid than wasting time on something she can't keep is the fact that she takes it back to the manse with her. Clutching it protectively she sneaks on through the halls towards her room. He knows and she knows He knows, but it's the only chance she has really. Useless or not she may as well take it. She hides the book under the weird "bed" He forces her to sleep in. Recuperacoons do not go with the mansion's decor, He says.
During tea that "night" He makes mention of the book, as well as how stupid she is for trying to hide it. Oddly, He lets her keep it. She doesn't understand why, though she guesses it is probably some sort of stupid time thing. He seems to think the whole thing is rather funny so it has to be important. Whatever.