[Safeholme] Putting Off Sleep

Post Reply
User avatar
Straken
Posts: 1211
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 4:40 pm

[Safeholme] Putting Off Sleep

Post by Straken »

Still riding a wave of adrenaline following her late night excursion, Willow was jogging, skipping, and occasionally coin jumping her way back up the mountain road. With the occasional hoop and holler the young Brit was fairly certain she was just going to stay awake once she returned to the dorms. Coming to a halt just around the last bend in the road, and scratched at the back of her head.

“If I go back to the dorm, I won’t be able to just sit in the commons for a couple hours, so I’d need to just sit in the dark and not wake Drysi,” Willow reasoned with herself. “Sure, I’m out past curfew, but if I go to the mansion I’ll at least be training, right?”

Nodding confidently in her choice of action, Willow rounded the bend, dropped a coin, and soared through the air past the dorm in the off chance an RA was looking at the road. Landing in pewter backed tuck and roll that absolutely wasn’t the result of her stumbling, she jogged the rest of the way up to the mansion.

Once the front gate was in sight, Willow trundled to a stop. Next challenge, the Guardian of the Gate.

“Hey Aurus, mind if I loiter for a bit?” Willow asked, her tone hushed but still rather chipper. A gutteral grumble shook the wrought iron to the point where a soft click marked the latch unlocking. With a high hop, she high fived the guardian’s resting spot within the gate, and left a protein bar on the ledge as an offering.

Peeking onto the grounds everything was dark and nothing was moving. Tentative steps took her onto the grounds, and she waited for any hint that her cover was blown. Sighing contentedly, she walked quietly around the building to the training field. She wasn’t going to do anything crazy. Scattering coins out around the field, Willow determined that she would practice her landings. Having never been much for gymnastics, pewter would carry most of her movement. So she was going to practice some tucks and rolls as she jogged around the field, pushing off occasionally into the air before tumbling and trying to keep her pace going. Going for about a half hour, her tin eyes could tell that dawn wasn’t too far off as the Eastern sky began to brighten ever so slightly. That meant she only had a little while left before Mr. Flynn would be awake. Switching from Steel to Iron, Willow pulled one coin after another back, snatching them out of the air as they whistled towards her chest.

On her walk back to the front Willow’s pewter ran out, and immediately she felt the fatigue of her two hour excursion set in. She needed to rest before walking back, as she didn’t fancy accidentally falling asleep halfway home on a mountain road. Moving to the fountain, Willow took a seat on the ledge, relishing the refreshing air around the running water. Looking at the water, she recalled seeing Ruarc occasionally leaving food on the edge. It stood to reason that one of those little spirits like Aurus had taken up residence in the fountain, but also that her mentor felt a bit more of an attachment to this one.

Fishing in her jacket pocket, Willow pulled out the second protein bar that she had bought to snack on, and sat the treat down on the ledge next to her. Yawning, Willow also remembered the rumor that the spirit in this fountain would answer questions. Shifting off of the ledge, she sat her back against the cool stone of the fountain.

“Do you know what other metals I can use?”

No response.

“What am I hungry for? Wait, no, that’s a stupid question.”

No response either way. Willow was feeling drowsy.

“Is Mr. Flynn going to be alright? He’s been troubled recently, even though he doesn’t like to show it.”

No response. Willow contemplated other questions as she started to doze.

“Are my parents doing okay? These probably aren’t the questions you answer, but I miss them.”

No response. Willow’s head was bobbing as she was half asleep.

“How do you know if someone likes you?”

No response. Willow fell asleep.
Post Reply