Despite being the same age, the twins and Treela were vastly different. The redhead had more juvenile tendencies with her hair chewing and outlook. She wasn't as outgoing as them, hadn't socialised with as many people. The twins though were indeed like miniature adults, carrying all the sass and potential impotence of those at least twice their age. Dayla and Layla didn't appear to be overly concerned about being questioned or about the attention that they were receiving. Treela on the other hand.
Her gaze darted nervously around the room, even though Leeloo was being extremely friendly, creeping onto the child's shoulder as she chattered. Her words, even if she couldn't understand them, were cheerily spoken and should have eased her mind. In different circumstances, she would have felt pleased by the Tunawa's company. Instead, she knew that she'd let slip something that she shouldn't have. Something that was potentially dangerous. She began to chew on her nails in earnest, worrying at them savagely as tears glistened in her gaze. The pair were having some sort of argument before her. She couldn't understand the language but the tone wasn't pleasant. Were they arguing about her? Arguing about how to deal with her?
The child's lips trembled and she shook her head adamantly even as Virikai assured her that the missing pair wouldn't get into trouble. Tears began to dribble onto her cheeks and then began to gush in earnest as she began to bawl her eyes out.
"Y-y-you d-d-don't know a-a-anything! They m-m-might go back and th-then we'll never s-s-see them again l-l-like Agi," she choked out before she lost the ability to speak altogether. A teacher moved forward, beginning to remonstrance her for her behaviour because surely she was old enough to know better. However, Taysin moved forward to draw her back with a murmur loud enough for Virikai to hear: "Let them work." The Eídisi gave a subtle jerk of her head, indicating to her fellow that he should proceed. If he couldn't get anything better out of the child then he might pull them away, convince them to take a new tack. Perhaps they'd try other children or perhaps they'd move off, look around outside the building, around the Orphanage, seeking some sign of the lost youths.
The IA agent's gaze found Amaris, wondering if they were having better luck.
"A twin? I knew that I liked you for a reason," Layla purred while her twin rolled her eyes.
"We are too old for tricks. What good is a trick where you put the button somewhere and then seem to magically make it appear somewhere else? That's just being clever with her hands," Dayla commented, evidently not all that amused. However, they put laughed at the suggestion that they could work out where the stamp went or return it for a monetary reward.
"Really? Do you think that's worth it? They won't give us nel. They might give us a pat on the head and say, 'Good girls," but they'd never give us anything. They'd just expect us to do it. Returning things, that's just duty," Layla explained, pulling a face.
"The sooner we give answers, the sooner you all go away and then we have to go back to lessons," Dayla pointed out, not impressed by the mixed blood's argument. "Besides, why would we know anything about Tollan? He's younger than us and he's a boy; they're not much use are they?" She looked to her sister for confirmation and received a nod.
Dayla's lips pressed together for a moment, thoughtful and she glanced at her sister. Something unspoken seemed to pass between them.
"Look, we aren't really friends with her, Elyne I mean, but you hear stuff sometimes, even if you don't know someone very well," Dayla explained quietly, almost conspiratorially as she glanced furtively at her teachers. "Some of the kids in the Orphanage? You stop seeing them in school, they just vanish. None of them ever talk about it but they're scared. That's why they ran away. We don't know where they'd go-"
"But we can say for definite that they were desperate to run away," Layla finished, nodding her head. She let out a huff of air. "Can we do something else now? This is boring!"
"Given the sort of time wasting you seem inclined to practice, I don't think I can be blamed," the IA agent snapped, moving swiftly past him as he followed the blood trail. Linika seemed to be gone. Calling her wasn't going to do any good because she was evidently out of earshot but where had she gone? If she'd spotted the blood trail then she would have told them, surely? No, more likely she'd run away, gone back to only caring about herself. Sounded like typical Naerrik behaviour.
The man moved quickly, Devin and the Ellune following. Still, he wasn't to be rid of the man and his ridiculousness. They had better things to worry about and here he was murmuring apologies and trying to give him a bit of coloured stone. What did he want with a rock? He glanced disdainfully at the peace offering, shaking his head in disbelief. Time and a place.
Moving out into the snow, he had to keep his eyes to the ground, a slight mist making it difficult to see very far ahead. They were reliant on following the trail rather than viewing things further ahead. Linika, or maybe even one of the children could have been in plain sight and be invisible because of the cloud in the air.
The agent paused at one point, crouching to point out the small impression of a child's shoe and a larger one of a woman. Both were deep, particularly at the heel as if they'd moved swiftly, not making as clear an impression with the rest of the shoe. "This looks like Linika's and this one, a child. I don't know if it's the boy or the girl but there's only one," he explained, pointing quickly as he passed on his knowledge. Then he was up and striding along once more.
Devin was also eager to get to their destination, racing ahead of him into the hut so that he missed the splashes of blood that moved off in a new direction.
"Look, there's blood heading-"
A panicked call silenced the rest of his speech, the IA agent taking off at a run, all composure gone as he dashed across the snow, headless of the dangers that might lie ahead.
The splash of Linika hitting the water wouldn't be heard by the rest of her party but the stir she caused in onlookers would be. There were those on the ships that yelled at her for her reckless stupidity, others who screamed that they'd come to rescue her quickly. However, while that commotion was going on, ships with smaller lifeboats dropping them into the water so they could provide aid, there was a quieter scene taking place between Elyne and the Naerrik.
The girl had shrunk away from her, almost risking capsizing her little boat in her need to keep away from the adult. Adults were a sign of threat as far as she was concerned, not to be trusted no matter how they might try to bribe her; the box wasn't viewed very favourably. Elyne's posture changed though as the Naerrik drew closer, ready to hit her with the oar if she was going to remain incapable of steering herself out of the way.
She prodded the wood against the woman's shoulder, pushing herself further away, water coming in through the hull, even as Yorrick reached the dock side and unleashed a terrified cry. He immediately went seeking a boat. For the pair of females, time almost seemed to still though. They were in their own bubble of space, the orphan staring at her with wild hope.
"Could I really? Would you really let me stay with you? You wouldn't give me to them? You wouldn't let them disappear me? If I go back, they'll probably make me vanish and no one will ever be allowed talk about me again," she whispered, eyeing the woman suspiciously even as Yorrick commandeered a little boat for his party. "Will you really help?"
Soon, Yorrick and company would be upon them and the IA agent would definitely return her, no matter how frightening such a possibility was to her. If she was going to prevent the rescue attempt of the two men - the Ellune had remained behind, obviously not wanting her size to cause imbalance - then Linika would have to think bloody fast!
Her gaze darted nervously around the room, even though Leeloo was being extremely friendly, creeping onto the child's shoulder as she chattered. Her words, even if she couldn't understand them, were cheerily spoken and should have eased her mind. In different circumstances, she would have felt pleased by the Tunawa's company. Instead, she knew that she'd let slip something that she shouldn't have. Something that was potentially dangerous. She began to chew on her nails in earnest, worrying at them savagely as tears glistened in her gaze. The pair were having some sort of argument before her. She couldn't understand the language but the tone wasn't pleasant. Were they arguing about her? Arguing about how to deal with her?
The child's lips trembled and she shook her head adamantly even as Virikai assured her that the missing pair wouldn't get into trouble. Tears began to dribble onto her cheeks and then began to gush in earnest as she began to bawl her eyes out.
"Y-y-you d-d-don't know a-a-anything! They m-m-might go back and th-then we'll never s-s-see them again l-l-like Agi," she choked out before she lost the ability to speak altogether. A teacher moved forward, beginning to remonstrance her for her behaviour because surely she was old enough to know better. However, Taysin moved forward to draw her back with a murmur loud enough for Virikai to hear: "Let them work." The Eídisi gave a subtle jerk of her head, indicating to her fellow that he should proceed. If he couldn't get anything better out of the child then he might pull them away, convince them to take a new tack. Perhaps they'd try other children or perhaps they'd move off, look around outside the building, around the Orphanage, seeking some sign of the lost youths.
The IA agent's gaze found Amaris, wondering if they were having better luck.
"A twin? I knew that I liked you for a reason," Layla purred while her twin rolled her eyes.
"We are too old for tricks. What good is a trick where you put the button somewhere and then seem to magically make it appear somewhere else? That's just being clever with her hands," Dayla commented, evidently not all that amused. However, they put laughed at the suggestion that they could work out where the stamp went or return it for a monetary reward.
"Really? Do you think that's worth it? They won't give us nel. They might give us a pat on the head and say, 'Good girls," but they'd never give us anything. They'd just expect us to do it. Returning things, that's just duty," Layla explained, pulling a face.
"The sooner we give answers, the sooner you all go away and then we have to go back to lessons," Dayla pointed out, not impressed by the mixed blood's argument. "Besides, why would we know anything about Tollan? He's younger than us and he's a boy; they're not much use are they?" She looked to her sister for confirmation and received a nod.
Dayla's lips pressed together for a moment, thoughtful and she glanced at her sister. Something unspoken seemed to pass between them.
"Look, we aren't really friends with her, Elyne I mean, but you hear stuff sometimes, even if you don't know someone very well," Dayla explained quietly, almost conspiratorially as she glanced furtively at her teachers. "Some of the kids in the Orphanage? You stop seeing them in school, they just vanish. None of them ever talk about it but they're scared. That's why they ran away. We don't know where they'd go-"
"But we can say for definite that they were desperate to run away," Layla finished, nodding her head. She let out a huff of air. "Can we do something else now? This is boring!"
---
Given the stress of the situation, the last thing Yorrick had expected was that Devin would be arguing with him. He'd have believed it of Linika if she was still here but Devin? No, the man didn't seem like he'd have enough in him to argue; evidently he was wrong."Given the sort of time wasting you seem inclined to practice, I don't think I can be blamed," the IA agent snapped, moving swiftly past him as he followed the blood trail. Linika seemed to be gone. Calling her wasn't going to do any good because she was evidently out of earshot but where had she gone? If she'd spotted the blood trail then she would have told them, surely? No, more likely she'd run away, gone back to only caring about herself. Sounded like typical Naerrik behaviour.
The man moved quickly, Devin and the Ellune following. Still, he wasn't to be rid of the man and his ridiculousness. They had better things to worry about and here he was murmuring apologies and trying to give him a bit of coloured stone. What did he want with a rock? He glanced disdainfully at the peace offering, shaking his head in disbelief. Time and a place.
Moving out into the snow, he had to keep his eyes to the ground, a slight mist making it difficult to see very far ahead. They were reliant on following the trail rather than viewing things further ahead. Linika, or maybe even one of the children could have been in plain sight and be invisible because of the cloud in the air.
The agent paused at one point, crouching to point out the small impression of a child's shoe and a larger one of a woman. Both were deep, particularly at the heel as if they'd moved swiftly, not making as clear an impression with the rest of the shoe. "This looks like Linika's and this one, a child. I don't know if it's the boy or the girl but there's only one," he explained, pointing quickly as he passed on his knowledge. Then he was up and striding along once more.
Devin was also eager to get to their destination, racing ahead of him into the hut so that he missed the splashes of blood that moved off in a new direction.
"Look, there's blood heading-"
A panicked call silenced the rest of his speech, the IA agent taking off at a run, all composure gone as he dashed across the snow, headless of the dangers that might lie ahead.
The splash of Linika hitting the water wouldn't be heard by the rest of her party but the stir she caused in onlookers would be. There were those on the ships that yelled at her for her reckless stupidity, others who screamed that they'd come to rescue her quickly. However, while that commotion was going on, ships with smaller lifeboats dropping them into the water so they could provide aid, there was a quieter scene taking place between Elyne and the Naerrik.
The girl had shrunk away from her, almost risking capsizing her little boat in her need to keep away from the adult. Adults were a sign of threat as far as she was concerned, not to be trusted no matter how they might try to bribe her; the box wasn't viewed very favourably. Elyne's posture changed though as the Naerrik drew closer, ready to hit her with the oar if she was going to remain incapable of steering herself out of the way.
She prodded the wood against the woman's shoulder, pushing herself further away, water coming in through the hull, even as Yorrick reached the dock side and unleashed a terrified cry. He immediately went seeking a boat. For the pair of females, time almost seemed to still though. They were in their own bubble of space, the orphan staring at her with wild hope.
"Could I really? Would you really let me stay with you? You wouldn't give me to them? You wouldn't let them disappear me? If I go back, they'll probably make me vanish and no one will ever be allowed talk about me again," she whispered, eyeing the woman suspiciously even as Yorrick commandeered a little boat for his party. "Will you really help?"
Soon, Yorrick and company would be upon them and the IA agent would definitely return her, no matter how frightening such a possibility was to her. If she was going to prevent the rescue attempt of the two men - the Ellune had remained behind, obviously not wanting her size to cause imbalance - then Linika would have to think bloody fast!
