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Post by Cirri on Dec 27, 2013 16:16:03 GMT 8
Cirri studied her painted fan, and looked outside the window at the graceful pink-flowered tree growing by the rushing river. Her father cultivated some new bonsai lately, and they were cascading around a couple of rocks. She lifted the slim brush, dipped it in the ink pot and gently, slowly.... KHHR-TUNK, KHRUNK, KRUNK, KRUNK... Wheels on the bumpy road- a carriage was passing by. She turned back and glanced at her work, ruined... But at least, there were visitors... She did not know if it was something she ought to be happy about. There had been talks of her being married off to a wealthy merchant's son- not that he was of a bad sort, but rather, horribly dull. She considered running away from home- in the case that the visitor would be a foreigner, maybe she could tarry along with him and finally escape this prison?
Usually, however, these people were her father's friends- so she guessed that it wasn't likely, not likely at all that they would take her to see how life is outside the North.
She could hope, though.
She stood from her seat, drew the papered sliding doors to the side and exited her room. She walked down from the top of her stairs, hearing that, indeed, there's someone present. Who is it? Why would they come to this side of North Nirvana? Clearly, it must be some very important person....
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Post by Cirri on Dec 28, 2013 0:00:44 GMT 8
"Oh, from which are you, dear visitor?" Immediately Cirri's thoughts flew to her earlier plans- that someone could take her elsewhere, and maybe she could find her prince there in the South, where castles of glass and metal stand tall, or in the country where castles and knights fought. How wonderful! She smiled, but covered her mouth with the fan at the prospect. Oh, to leave this horrid and dreary place. "Oh, and greetings to you too, I am Cirri Lin, the daughter of the imperial relative and silk merchant."
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Post by Cirri on Dec 28, 2013 0:24:07 GMT 8
"Hmmm. Father," Cirri addressed the jolly elderly man who was eagerly telling others about his bonsai. "I thought you preferred to hire our own people? Why have you called out a Southern man to serve us?" He waved her away to speak with his friends, expressing that they would talk later. Cirri approached her "bodyguard" and started. "It seems that you are now one of our family's hired hands. Would you care to explain to me as to how you have gotten into such a position? My father is currently busy, as you see."
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Post by Cirri on Dec 28, 2013 9:13:36 GMT 8
Cirri was unsure whether or not to accept the man's words as truth. It was highly unlikely that her father would find himself in a crossfire- especially in the South, where it is no one in the North's business to be. She knew that her father traded threads, cloths, and cures with the Wiken, but not with the Southerners. At the same time, her papa was also not the type to go around without having any one of the royal guards with him. She thought of asking further about how this strange set of circumstances could be but decided that this was not the moment to do so, dismissing the question in her head for another time.
Upon hearing the mention of comic books, Cirri's interest was piqued. It was not the right time and place to talk about them, though. This seems a formal gathering, and she would not like any of her relatives to know about her interest in those "ugly Southern drawing-books". When Lockon offered her his hand, she laughed and said, "Well, Sir Stratos, it is not in our custom for women to take the hand of a man she is not related to. And I am pretty able to walk on my own. Thanks."
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Post by Cirri on Dec 28, 2013 21:48:47 GMT 8
"It's fine." Cirri commented. She spoke with her father, who was surprisingly dodgy in his replies. It seemed that he was not willing to give her any information about his trip, especially in the company of this new employee. The event was drawing to a close.
"Now, please tell me everything that happened during my father's trip. I couldn't even imagine how you two could have crossed paths." she commanded as she drew some tea for this new acquaintance. Green tea with honey and milk. It might be too sweet for his taste, but she didn't care at that moment. Rather, she wanted to know--to understand what had occurred, more about the world outside her gilded cage.
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Post by Cirri on Dec 29, 2013 16:10:43 GMT 8
"Hmm... That's still rather peculiar. Are you telling my that my father is running some sort of philanthropic effort somewhere? How exciting. You must orient me with your fellows- who, do I rightly assume, live in the South? And you're the one who owes our family something. Oh, yes, yes, you must take me there to see the South. It is of great import! I can't even..." Cirri said excitedly. "It is going to be most fantastic. You will be my chaperone AND my bodyguard." Suddenly, she remembered that it had always been forbidden for her to go elsewhere. "But how are we going there?"
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Post by Cirri on Dec 29, 2013 19:57:03 GMT 8
"Hmmm... My father approves? Of our going to the South? You must either be very convincing or very reliable." She said as she took his hand. "This feels very funny, as if I now have a new brother. I have been an only child all my life, and I have really wanted a brother!" She smiles charmingly and thinks of the plethora of things she could do....
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Post by Cirri on Dec 29, 2013 21:27:05 GMT 8
"I want to go to the South. Could you bring me to Central?" Cirri asked. She did not notice Lockon's face souring. "I've heard that they have the most wonderful things there- like houses of metal and glass, glass all over. Then great talking screens- people who are not there but there, flying devices....Oh, would you? Please!" She grabs on his sleeve pleadingly.
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Post by Cirri on Dec 30, 2013 1:09:09 GMT 8
After hearing that her bodyguard disappeared in his trip to the South, Cirri was obviously saddened by the news. While their acquaintance had been quite short, she found that she very much enjoyed his company [as a brother]. She was afraid that her father would no longer let her fly away, and so decided to rebel by riding on another flight. It was the first time she ran away from home, and the first time she ever rode on a plane. The world seemed to be both smaller and larger at the same time. She sat primly on her plane seat, and wished, and prayed that everything would turn out okay, and that she did not make a decision that would later on prove to ruin her life.
[to be continued]
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