HEYOOOOO!
Sorry, I'm in a good mood today. Thank for the reviews, you guys!
Anonymous Reviews…
Tintin is awesome: I see you think Tintin is awesome? I AGREE TO THE UTMOST. Thanks for reviewing! I hope you'll keep reading it! ;D
ZULY, zuly, zuly cajero, zulema cajero (I guess you guys are all the same? AHAHA.): Thank you for reviewing! I hope you are catching up to my story, though! :)))
DaftMau5Prime: Thank you! LOL. I'll update as soon as possible!
natalie wwq: Strangely awesome? Ahahaha! Nice way to describe though! I like it! :DD Thank you for reviewing! And I've been reading the comics. I agree, all of us could say the strangest things… LOL. Yes, Tintin is not good around girls, but he isn't completely clueless! I mean, he notices when girls flirt with him and such, but he's just a little- scratch that, very awkward! But what I'm trying to do is to make Winter and Tintin to have a brother/sister relationship first. Then after a while comes the romance! :) (Note, I said a while.)
Ondyne: Well, you got that right! Ahaha. But it won't be what you expected. Hell yeah, he's a naïve boy! LOL. That's why we love Tintin so much! Thanks for reviewing! ;)))
Digimonfan: Yeah, I changed it! Thank for telling me though. Criticism isn't rude, don't worry. Thank you for reviewing, though! I hope you'll keep reading my fanfiction. ^^
(No name! Why?): I appreciate your criticism! Thank you for telling me what's wrong with the story, you're helping me improve very much! Thank you for reviewing! :D
Ace Reader: This is one of your favorite stories? Oh gosh, ahaha… O/O Thank you for reviewing! LOL. And let's hope we'll get our dear Professor Calculus back!
Thank you for all of the reviews you guys! All of you always manage to make my day.
"Uh..."
Winter stood there uselessly, scratching her head while darting her eyes around the room she had just slept in. She was clueless in where her day clothes were hidden, and she thought of who it would be. Footsteps were then heard, and Winter turned around to find Bianca Castafiore standing right behind her, holding the light blue-green dress, cardigan, socks, and the familiar pair of the brown Oxford shoes.
"Ah! There they are. Thank you, er..." Winter realized she had forgotten the woman's name, and stared at her blankly. The lady laughed loudly and melodically, causing Winter's ears to ring and ache. "My name is Bianca Castafiore. You can call me Miss Castafiore, if you'd like. That's how you say it in English, am I wrong? Now," She handed over the bundle of clothing to Winter and ushered her into the room. "Hurry up and change. I have a little something for you. Knock when you're done, l'enfant!"
Before she could reply back, Ms. Castafiore shut the door in Winter's face and hummed a tune that she knew distinctly as 'In the Blue of the Evening'.
Her mother always introduced her to unfamiliar classic songs, and amazingly, she fell in love with them as soon as she heard the pieces. Winter never fancied listening to the pop culture nowadays. She always that they were too 'fast-paced' and the lyrics were 'just plain perverted'; but there would be a song or two that would appear now and then that would capture Winter's attention. As quickly as she thought, she was already changed into her outfit, and walked to the long mirror on the wall to her right. She observed herself, and noticed that her eyes were a bit different. 'Probably more adventure-seeking,' Winter thought, noticing the faint glint. 'and a little curioser, too.' She giggled to herself as she noted to herself for the umpteenth time that 'curioser' wasn't a word. It was only a gibberish word that she had gotten from her beloved 1950's animated movie 'Alice in Wonderland'.
"Well maybe I am a little... pretty..." She said out loud, doing a ballerina-like twirl and causing her dress to poof out, showing the white frills underneath. Winter then thought of Betty, the young woman she met a while back, and her self-confidence plummeted drastically. 'But if only I was as beautiful as her... But whatever! It's not like looks count! And you're not trying to look for guys, Winter! Look for adventure! ADVENTURE...' She thought furiously, mentally scolding herself. Winter stomped to the closed door, still in her thoughts of fury, and knocked two times. In a flash, the door swung open as if a tornado had hit it, and Winter quickly jumped out of the way and plopped on her bottom.
"Oh non! Je suis tellement désolé!"
Ms. Castafiore eagerly aided Winter back to her feet, and patted the dust off of her behind. "Are you alright? I'm so sorry, I couldn't help it..."
"Erm, it's alright." She mumbled, re-clipping her barrette that sat on her right side of her head. Ms. Castafiore beamed at Winter, and pushed her to a chair. "Now, I've been looking at what might look good with your beautiful hair, and I have just the right thing!" She pulled out a silk maroon ribbon and a fancy comb.
"This ribbon and your dress are a perfect match! Now I just need take off that barrette and comb your hair... Oh mon dieu, it's so tangled..." Ms. Castafiore murmured, making her way through the maze of the brown hair. "Valaa! Good as new. Your hair is very straight m'dear!" She exclaimed. She then fumbled with the ribbon, and tightly pulled Winter's hair back. A few minutes later, she tapped Winter on the shoulder to notify that she was finished. Winter nervously walked to the mirror, and smiled at the sight. It looked beautiful; up on the crown of her head was the ribbon that was neatly tied into an attractive bow. The two endings of the ribbon tumbled down and ended at her shoulders, and the bottom half of her hair was let loose.
"Thank you, Ms. Castafiore! It looks wonderful."
She gave an approving smile and handed back Winter's clip. "Here, take it back. And I trust you are going to my masquerade ball tomorrow night? It's called 'The Autumn's Murmur'. Just to let you know though." Ms. Castafiore said, resting a hand on her chest in an elegant way.
"I'll try, Ms. Castafiore." Winter responded with a small smile. With a wave and a friendly hug (in which Winter did very awkwardly), she noticed Captain Haddock sitting at the couch in the living room near the front door. "Um, hello..." She then took a shot and tried to say 'Captain' in French. "Capitaine Haddock. I'm going to leave right now, so I'm just giving you a 'goodbye'..." Captain Haddock looked up from his newspaper and gave a whiskery smile. "Good luck on going back to where ever you came from. Tintin said you aren't originally from here, and you're trying to go back. But that darned boy won't tell me. Well! It's probably not to be meddled with. Goodbye, lass!" He said merrily. Winter grinned and walked to the door, but was stopped by an unfamiliar butler who suddenly appeared behind her, giving her a good fright.
"...I presume your name is Winter Rose Brimnings?" He said, his head and chest raised high. "Uh, yes." Winter replied, resting her hand on the handle of the entry. He then knelt down to her ear, and whispered quietly. "Steer clear of the blood-feathered hawk. Nasty thing. Always flocked with many others."
Without looking back at Winter, he assumed back to his position and marched away, balancing a wine bottle on a tray. Winter stared back at him with confusion, and slowly made her way out.
She stood at her spot, breathing in the fresh air of the morning dew. "Well, now to find Tintin-" Winter was interrupted by a call from the other side of the immense lawn.
"Winter, over here!" Tintin yelled, stretching his arms to catch Winter's attention. She waved back to Tintin and jogged to him. He then disappeared into a building next to the fence bordering the property of the house, and Winter followed him in.
It looked like a science lab. There were clear glass bottles neatly placed on a wooden desk, and on the opposite table stood multiple jars of multicolored and unknown liquids. "So this is Professor what-do-you-call-it's lab?" Winter spoke, bending down to get an even eye-sight of a mysterious looking cup that held a goo-like substance. "Professor Calculus. He's very smart, but he has sort of a hearing disorder," Tintin said, pacing slowly around the room. "And it gets on my nerve sometimes. But, crumbs, it's not his fault." Winter ripped her eyes from the black pendulum that was slowly rocking from her push to Tintin's broad back.
"Hmm. You know, I noticed you don't use much profanity compared to your age. You're seventeen?" She asked softly. He abruptly froze, keeping his face turned away from Winter. "Uhm... yes. And you're sixteen, am I right? One year younger..." Tintin said, unusually quiet. Winter gave him a funny frown, clearly noticing his weird behavior. But he looked uncomfortable because of this conversation, so she changed the subject.
"Ahem... So! Did you find any clues yet?" Winter spoke, her voice raising to a happy tone. Tintin finally faced her and shook his head. "No, not yet. But sooner or later I... or we will. Speaking of the devil, it looks like Milou's found something..."
A tinkling of a bark sounded from the far end of the room, and the pair rushed over to see what the white-furred dog had found. Milou was pawing at a particular piece of ground, and Tintin bent over to have a closer examination. "What is it, Milou?" The terrier whined over and over, tapping it with his two front paws. "Do... you want me to pull the tile out?" Tintin said. Milou barked and wagged his tail excitedly. Tintin gave Winter a 'well here it goes!' expression and used a plate of thick metal to scrape the slab out. It was amazingly easy to do so, and he let Winter look below to see what Milou was yapping about. She spotted a crumpled piece of paper that was lying in the hole, and curiously lifted it up, scared that it might explode or release poison. Tintin quickly put the tile back in place and scooted next to Winter, crouching over her shoulder to have a look at the mysterious script.
"Tintin, thanks to your lovely dog, we might have just found the key to our problem..." Winter said, a sly smile edging on her face. "The decoder."
A dimpled beam appeared, and Tintin gently pulled out the paper from her hands. "You're right! This is great, Winter!" Tintin exclaimed, clapping his hands together. Tintin gratefully hugged his faithful Milou, and kissed him on the forehead. "Bon garçon, Milou! Good boy!"
Winter once again softened her eyes at this adorable sight. She stood up and wiped off her knees from the debris."You're different from most boys I've seen."
Tintin looked up at her and let go of Milou. "How so?" He asked, copying her lead and getting up. Winter stared at him and sighed deeply. "Well, I don't really know. You're just more... erm... How do I say..."
'More attractive, yeah.' Winter thought. "More adventurous. I've usually heard that most men don't like to be a busybody usually." Tintin snorted and felt around his pockets. "Well you got that right. But unfortunately, I am." Winter bobbed her head up and down in agreement and raised a finger. "And that's why you're interesting. Wouldn't be surprising if you made an autobiography when you're older."
Tintin gave an uninterested grunt, and was focusing his attention on something else. He began to panic, fumbling through his pockets and repeating the cycle. "Erm, Winter? Is there by any chance that you're holding 'The Anachronism'?" She shook her head vigorously. "Nuh-uh... Please don't tell me you've lost it."
He slowly tilted his head up, then his pouting blue-green eyes. "... I don't have it."
It became very silent. Winter's mouth hung open, and Tintin flitted his eyes around nervously. "...Lanav's men must have taken it while we were escaping. Either that, or I just dropped it."
"I'm not going to give up now. If I do, I won't get back to my time, and I'll be stuck in this period forever." Winter said nervously, biting her nails while strutting across the living room. The sun had already fallen, and the blooming waxing gibbous moon perked up from the dark mountains in the distance. Tintin paced the opposite way, mumbling to himself to what might have happened to the strange riddle. Captain Haddock, on the other hand, was sitting on the velvet chair while drinking a hot cup of Jasmine tea, eyeing the two.
"Blistering barnacles! You kids are giving me a blasted headache! Now why don't we just sit down and talk this out?" Haddock bellowed, thrusting the empty cup to the table. "Good point..." Tintin grumbled, setting himself on the couch. "Now, Winter, where do you think Lanav could be right now?"
Winter wearily sat herself right at where she was standing, and criss-crossed her legs. "He could be anywhere. Why he could even be halfway around the world!" She said, scratching her head in agitation. "That damned Lanav... his weird name already proves himself to be a nuisance-"
"Lanav? What are you wonderful three talking about?"
Bianca Castafiore gracefully entered the room, her hair tied in a neat bun, and a trailing navy-blue night gown worn. Captain Haddock groaned and slapped his forehead, causing an arched eyebrow from Winter. "Do you know this man, Miss Castafiore?" Tintin asked, furrowing his eyebrows. She laughed with a piercing high-pitched tone, making Captain Haddock force his hands onto his ears and Winter to wince. Tintin, however, had no reaction. "Of course! I knew him when I set sail on a cruise ship to sing. He praised me for my voice," Miss Castafiore cooed, batting her eyelashes at the memory. "So I'm inviting him to my masquerade! But why do you speak of him?"
Winter and Tintin immediately locked their eyes on each other, smiling. "Er... Miss Castafiore?" They chorused together.
"Oui?"
"Do you mind us three coming to your ball tomorrow?" Tintin said. Captain Haddock burst out, furious of 'us three', but Tintin quickly covered his mouth.
"Of course, not! I would love to see your faces tomorrow! Ta ta, Bonne nuit, vous trois! Je vous verrai demain beautés!" Bianca Castafiore then broke into song, and went back upstairs to her room.
Winter sighed in relief, and gave a thumbs-up. "Let's take down that bastard Lanav!"
Milou barked and ran around in circles, Tintin smiled, and Captain Haddock was moping to himself, muttering to himself of what he was going to face. "Tintin, can I not go-"
"Non! You have to! Where did the thirst for adventure go, Capitaine?" Tintin said, resting a hand on the man's shoulder. There was still no reply, and Tintin breathed out heavily. "Fine. You can drink all the whiskey and beer you want. But just don't get too drunk-"
"DEAL."
Bwahaha! I'm worked on this instead of homework. I hope you guys enjoyed it! Let's wonder what's going to happen at the masquerade on the nest chapter.
See you on chapter six~ ;D
Please review you guys! I'll love you forever and ever and give you a virtual kiss if you'd want!