Author's note: Hi, sorry it's a bit late. Week's been hectic and most of my free time has gone into drawing a birthday present for my housemate. But he liked it and the chapter's up now so everyone's happy :).
Tristana was woken up Saturday morning by rapid knocking on her door as her mother's brisk voice called out, "Tristana! Wake up! We've got a big day today."
"Ugh," the girl feebly moved, white hair filling her vision as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. "I'm up!" she called groggily, causing the knocking to stop.
"Good. I expect you downstairs in fifteen minutes."
Tristana sighed, turquoise eyes closing as Pearl's footsteps disappeared. She really didn't feel like getting up. But the blue girl knew that if she wasn't downstairs in exactly fifteen minutes her mother would be right back nagging at the door.
If only she wasn't so tired. Her friends and herself had been up late last night working on their science fair project. Tristana grinned at the thought; they'd been able to go ahead with their levitation device after all. Amazingly, Ziggs had been able to obtain almost all the necessary parts they'd needed to continue. Needless to say, the others had been impressed (something the hazel yordling had not let them forget for the rest of the week as he paraded around like a smug peacock).
However, despite their renewed enthusiasm, the quartet had still needed to put in a lot of effort to get back on track. Last night had been particularly late and the twelve-year-old would bet that all three of her friends were still soundly asleep at this very moment; something she desperately wished she could do too. But alas, it was not meant to be; instead she had to get up and spend an entire day organising and preparing for the prestigious and proper ball tonight. Oh joy.
Well, she thought as she swung herself out of bed, if I want to be a Megling Commando I'm going to have to get used to waking up early – even with late nights. She steeled herself, and I'll also have to get used to dealing with uncomfortable situations.
The morning passed in a blur of motion. Yordles came and went from the house as all the last minute preparations were taken care of. Pearl was in charge of the preparations at the Great Hall where the Gala was taking place, while Charlie oversaw the movement from their home. Tristana helped her father out where she could by directing the workers and carrying the smaller, less fragile objects.
Around noon, the stylist finally managed to track her down and the blue yordling was forced to endure her detailed focus. Thankfully, it was around this time that her friends also turned up.
Charlie opened the door, ceasing the perpetual bell tone, to observe his daughter's three friends standing on the step. Teemo and Rumble were carrying their sound levitation device between them, leaving Ziggs free to press the doorbell.
The white-furred adult raised an eyebrow, unsurprised at the culprit of the bell shenanigans. "You do know that pressing a doorbell multiple times will not get me to get here any faster. Right?"
"Isn't that elevators?" the boy asked cheekily.
"Works for both," Charlie grinned, letting the trio inside.
"Oh, this is for you," Teemo passed Tristana's dad a container. "Ziggs' mum made you all some food. She figured you'd be too busy today to have time yourself."
"She gave it to Teemo because he was most likely to actually get it to you," Rumble added.
Ziggs just shrugged. "Can't argue with that."
Tristana's father smiled, gratefully taking the food. "Tell Heather thank you and that it's very much appreciated." Straightening up, he gave out a long sigh, "I can't stay long, I'm needed to oversee the dining arrangements. Tristana's up in the study getting her hair done; so why don't you three head up and keep her company. Just remember: do as you're told and don't get into trouble."
"Thanks Mr Chevalier," Teemo called as they headed up.
"And don't fear, we'll stay out of trouble," Ziggs added with his trade mark grin.
Charlie shook his head with another sigh; hopefully they wouldn't be too much mischief.
"Fear not Tristana, your saviours have arrived!" Ziggs announced as they entered the study. The girl in question was sitting not-so-patiently in a chair on the side as a yellow-skinned yordle painstakingly brushed the twelve-year-old's shoulder length white hair. Her expression brightened as her friends entered.
The yordling dramatically continued, "No longer shall you be ensnared in the thralls of boredom. For we, your brave and loyal – not to mention good looking – friends, have arrived to save you from the evil clutches of monody."
"Pretty sure the word you're looking for is monotony," Teemo pointed out. "A monody is a poem or song about a tragedy."
"Which is what you're putting us through at the moment," Rumble added.
Tristana just grinned. "I don't care. I'm just grateful you three could be here, as Ziggs so elegantly put it, to save me from the clutches of monody and boredom."
Ignoring the obvious jab, Ziggs turned to the other boys, "See, she gets it."
Shaking his head, Rumble pulled his quirky friend over to their project. "Come on, we've got a project to work on."
The next hour passed in relative peace as the three boys worked on their sonic levitation device and the stylist continued to mould Tristana's hair into shape. All the while, the four yordlings continued to throw countless puns, quips and jabs at each other between their speech practice. It was obvious that the stylist was a little annoyed at their antics, but they weren't being too disruptive and they were keeping the girl entertained so she couldn't complain.
Finally, the yellow yordle stood back, satisfied with her work. It had not been easy. As a personal friend of Pearl's, she'd been delighted at the prospect of helping her family get ready for the gala. But knowing how well the blue-skinned woman kept her appearance, the stylist had been shocked at the state of her daughter. The girl's appearance was wild: with skinned knees, scratched arms, and tangled hair. But finally, finally she had smoothened out the girl's rough exterior into a polished gem – or at least her hair. The rest of the girl would take a bit more work. Still, she was proud of her work so far; when she was finished, the girl would be unrecognisable.
"Tada!" the stylist crowed, handing the girl a mirror as she held another up behind her for a proper look.
The twelve-year-old grimaced at her appearance, "Ugh, I look like a prissy."
That caused Ziggs to laugh while Teemo just smiled.
"Don't be like that," the cream-coloured yordling said. His mouth twitched in a knowing grin. "We think you look nice. Right Rumble?"
The cobalt kit looked up from where he'd been trying to fix the transducer's connection to the blue girl in front of them before his face flushed and he stuttered, "Ah pretty look yes. I mean, yes. You look fice-Nice-Fine. What he said."
Face still bright red, he dove back into his work, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.
Behind their backs, Ziggs and Teemo hi-fived.
Missing the motion, Tristana just frowned. "I still don't like it."
A little disheartened by the unenthusiastic response, the stylist snapped abruptly, "Alright, time for makeup."
The girl made a face as she was turned to face the big-haired woman. "Kill me now."
"Can I write your eulogy?"
"Ziggs!" Tristana turned to glare at her friend before the stylist turned her face back.
"I need you to keep still," she said pointedly.
"What?" the green-eyed boy grinned as he pursued the topic. "It'd be great."
Teemo and Rumble rolled their eyes, used to their friend's antics but finding the situation a little amusing all the same.
Tristana, however, was too upset about the situation to find much humour in it, sending the boy another glare – much to the stylist's exasperation.
The chestnut yordle didn't even bat an eyelid at the deadly look. Drawing himself up, the eleven-year-old spread his arms (almost knocking their project over had it not been for Teemo's quick reflexes) and announced, "Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to mourn the passing of Tristana Chevalier; a bright, spirited soul, whom was taken too soon from us." His grin grew as he heard the other boys snickering. "Alas, this poor girl was snatched by the untimely jaws of social obligations and enforced mannerisms. Smothered to death under the weight of surplus makeup and hairspray. No longer shall she run through the fields with the thresher geese, nor gleefully swing from the trees with her great, amazingly talented and funny friends. But though she is lost to us forever, we pray that she may rest and enjoy the tight embrace of the all-seeing mother."
With that, all three boys collapsed in laughter as Tristana tried to lunge at her friends.
"Enough!" The sun-coloured yordle broke the mood with a face like a thunder cloud. "Tristana, for the last time: sit still!" The stylist forced the yordling back into her seat, facing the girl towards her for the eighth time. Turning back to the gaggle of boys on the ground, her expression hardened. "And you three: if you're only going to be a disturbance you can get out!"
"But-" Ziggs' ears fell.
"I don't want to hear it. Out now!"
"We did promise," Teemo reasoned, causing the other two to sigh. "Sorry Trist."
With forlorn looks, the three boys cast Tristana one last good luck before heading out.
Charlie returned late in the afternoon to find the three boys huddled in the foyer corner, refining their project.
Raising an eyebrow, he dead-panned, "I see you got kicked out from upstairs."
"Yeah," Rumble grumbled. "Ziggs was being too distracting."
The brown-furred boy grinned sheepishly.
Teemo, however, just shrugged, "It was bound to happen sooner or later."
"Fair point."
As the three of them turned back to their project, Charlie joined them with a sigh. "So this is your project huh. How does it work?"
"So basically," Ziggs turned to the older yordle, explaining eagerly. "The transducer emits a sound wave and with this control panel we can control the amplitude and the frequency. The sound wave is then reflected back to the transducer using the reflector at the top which, at the right frequencies, creates a standing wave."
"The pressure created from the sound wave is great enough to hold small objects at the nodes," Rumble took over, "since the force for gravity is smaller than the pressure field created. We've included a hextech amplifier to increase these pressures and with this we can hold even heavier objects. Unfortunately, including the amplifier has also increased the sound levels so we're currently trying to fix that."
"Yeah," Teemo winced, "that was no fun. Most sonic levitation devices are set in the ultrasonic range cause it's out of the human hearing range. But not yordles' range. Unfortunately, we didn't even realise the problem until it was too late."
"So we've been trying to include a nullification barrier," the brown-furred yordling took over once more.
"But it doesn't seem to be working," Rumble finished disgruntled. "And we can't work out why."
Charlie gave the device a once over with a critical eye, before a small smirk slid on his face. "I'm no scientist so this definitely isn't my area of expertise, but isn't the nullifier plugged in upside down?"
The three boys glanced at the device in question with surprise, before Ziggs reversed it.
Sure enough, this time when Rumble switched it on, the expected blue glow of the barrier appeared, humming contentedly. No other sound escaped, not even when Teemo carefully inserted the ping pong balls and marbles they had on hand.
A sigh of relief went through the group, before the hi-fiving began all round.
"Thanks Mr. Chevalier."
"You're welcome," the white-furred adult smiled as he got to his feet. "I think I'll go check on Tristy. After all, Pearl gets back soon and I'd rather she didn't have something else to worry about."
The trio nodded fervently. "Hope you have better luck than us."
Exhausted from all their hard work, and happy with their progress, the boys decided to call it a day, carefully packing up their project.
It was just as they'd stored the last of it in their bags that Tristana resurfaced.
"Don't laugh."
Three pairs of eyes rose at the sound of her voice before three jaws dropped at the sight of the yordling at the bottom of the stairs.
The girl had soft blue skin and shining white hair pulled back into a French bun. A light layer of makeup softened her features, the aqua eyeshadow and dark liner popping out the blue-green of her eyes while the pink lipstick matched perfectly with her outfit. The dress itself fit snuggly to the girl, the beaded top and the soft colour giving the yordle a gentle, innocent air. In short, she was breathtaking; the perfect picture of a young, demure, high-society lady. Or she would be, if it wasn't for the scalding glare on her face; scowl strong enough to disintegrate the first person to cross the fiery circle of fury radiating from her figure. Her narrow eyes pierced her friends, daring them to say one word.
So they didn't. Instead silence reigned; the quiet sound of breathing the only audible noise and an atmosphere so thick it could be cut with a blunt knife.
The stare down continued, never wavering, as the girl glared down her wide-eyed friends. Then, almost in slow-motion, two brown-furry hands came up. Things sped up again as a loud click and a flash of light filled the room, breaking the standoff.
"Got it!" Ziggs crowed, waving the camera in the air. He and Teemo hi-fived, before they turned and bolted laughing out the front door.
Tristana's shock only lasted for a second before she was after them, but it was enough of a head start. By the time she had made it to the front doors the other two were barely in sight.
"You two get back here so I can kick your butts!" She shouted, fuming at the entrance. She tried to chase after them, only to almost trip on her heels. "Argh! I hate these shoes!"
Rumble was still standing near the stairs, slowly coming out of the stalled state he'd been in. As his brain began to function again, he turned to the irate girl at the door, carefully approaching her.
"Hey Trist," he called softly causing narrow turquoise eyes to centre in on him.
He raised his hands in defence before one hand subconsciously found the back of his neck and he nervously scuffed the floor.
"Look," he stuttered. "I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear right now, but I really do think you look nice. I mean, we think you look fine normally and I don't really get why you need to dress up when you look nice anyway. Well, I guess because it's a formal event but still. Anyway yeah, you look different nice and it's still you no matter what you wear so it really shouldn't matter but-"
Laughter broke off his rambling, causing the boy to turn to the smiling yordle. "I get it Rumble. And thanks, that really does make me feel better. I'm lucky to have a friend like you." She sighed, letting some of the tension bleed out of her. "I guess I can put up with the look for one night. That picture however, is another matter." She turned her pleading eyes onto Rumble. "I don't suppose you could help me get it back?"
The blue boy adjusted his bag straps, ensuring everything was secure as he shrugged. "It doesn't matter anyway."
The girl put her hands on her hips, eyebrow raised as she asked, "Oh? And why's that?"
He shot her a smirk. "Because I set the camera up to automatically send the picture to our web accounts when it was taken."
He ducked the outraged swipe before taking off after his friends.
As his laughter grew fainter the furious yordling shrieked after him. "You three are so dead tomorrow! D-E-A-D: dead! You hear me!"
Haha, I loved writing this chapter :D. Ziggs was a blast to write! As is angry Tristana :P.
Fun Fact: The last name Chevalier was derived from the term knight. I figured that fit Tristana.
Skullion123: Lol, of course :). And thank you :D!