[ooc] Adventure Story Text: Chapter 6
I keep meaning to put up the rest of the chapters, since eventually this will come up ICly, but-
"Take a look at this; it's great!"
Calling over to Reese, I opened the classroom window: white snow fell down from the black clouds.
"Do you think it'll snow enough?"
"According to the radio this morning, I think it will."
"Nice. That's good news."
We looked at each other and grinned; we had a promise with Marivel that we'll get to play together with a snow mobile when it snowed. This year, the first snowfall was belated, compared to previous years, but it looks like we'll get our first chance today. I closed the window as I kept grinning. I never felt a lecture go so long before. As soon as the bell rang, I packed up my books to get ready. Then Violetta, with her cheeks blushed, came over to our desks.
"Hey, would you like to play checkers at my place today? We can't go outside because of the snow, and...I wanted to apologize about the run-in about the ribbon, too."
Slightly withdrawing her eyes from him, she twiddled the tips of her wavy blonde hair.
It slightly hurt my conscience, but Reese replied in a leisurely tone.
"Thanks for inviting, but I already have prior engagements today. I'm sorry about that."
"Oh...is that so..."
Feeling her queen-like pride torn apart, Violetta walked back to her desk. Watching her take her frustration out on the other girls, I shook my head.
"Hey Reese. You should be a little more kind to her."
"Huh? What's that about?"
Snow must have been really curious to him; he was busy stomping footprints into the snow when he turned around, and smiled innocently.
"Well, It's okay if you don't understand."
I backed off, and looked up at the sky: if it's this clouded, Marivel should be able to come out with some bundling up. Hm...? I felt something in the back of my head, so I stopped, and looked around.
"What's up, Jack?"
"No, it's just that I...sort of felt someone watching us."
"Someone watching us? But my uncle said he'll be making baskets at home today."
"Yeah, I guess nobody wants to go into the mountains on a day like this besides ol' Canavan..."
Well, it was probably just my imagination.
"I've been waiting for you two."
As we opened the gates, and went into the room adjacent to the library, Marivel, who was wearing long pants for a change, greeted us.
"Care to drink something warm first?"
Exchanging quick glances, we both answered at the same time.
"No way. We're going riding first!"
"Very well. That's what I thought you'd say. Then, let us depart for the sea of snow!!"
"I'll show you how athletic I am!!"
"Hehehe. But I have experience!"
"I won't lose either!"
We walked with springy steps as we headed for the garage.
"Hm?"
Marivel suddenly fell silent.
"Egh...!!"
Following her line of sight, we grunted unconsciously: the trembling shadow in front of the garage...it was Violetta, standing there with purple cheeks! She must have tumbled many times; her blonde hair was covered with snow, and her clothes were wet and muddy. Accompanied by glaring blue eyes, her appearance had an awesome impact.
"I knew something was going on when that monster attacked us. And the time I caught a glimpse of you at Reese's house..."
While Reese and I froze in silence, she ground her teeth, and yelled, "Let go of them! You MONSTER!!"
"Violetta!"
Pretending not to hear Reese's voice stopping her, she approached Marivel. "What vicious teeth...and your breath isn't turning white. You're really not human...what are you trying to do by deceiving them?"
Violetta tries to grab Marivel's shoulders with both hands, but Marivel silently avoids her moves.
"You are correct, human. I am indeed not human."
The redness of her eyes turned darker. Her long blonde hair rises up, breaking the laws of gravity. My brain is yelling at me to stop Marivel, but my legs refused to move an inch.
"So..."
Marivel's white hand extends towards Violetta's forehead. And then, she uttered short foreign words against the wide-eyed and rigid Violetta. Along with a flare, Violetta's body collapsed to the ground. Scooping her up into her arms, Marivel looked toward us with a colorless face.
The clacking sounds of my teeth felt like they were coming from someone else. A high pitch note rang deep inside my throat. Ahh, Grandma once told me that chickens cried like this when they crush chickens that can't lay any more eggs. I could tell that part of my head was still cool, but I couldn't pry my eyes from her as if bewitched. As we stood there, Marivel approached us without a sound, with Violetta in her arms.
Reese and I stepped back subconsciously. Seeing that, her face crumpled up.
"Go home...never set foot here again...!"
"No, Marivel! We're sorry, it's, it's not that!!"
But Marivel kept her back to us, and went inside the castle. Red and Blue looked at us with a puzzled look, and then followed her inside.
"Marivel...!"
We shouted out her name, but the gates of Crimson Castle roared shut in front of our noses.
--
The noise of sleet rattled the roofs in the afternoon.
"Did you finish writing?"
Reese, wearing a blue apron, came peeking in while stroking his neck.
"Hey...cut it out!"
I dived flat onto the table to cover the letter from Reese's eyes.
"Don't worry, I didn't see it. But is your aircraft really strong enough to fly over the castle wall, with a letter strapped to it?"
"Hey, that's not nice. Have more faith in your airplane specialist, the one and only, Jack."
"You say faith but...can't you just simply fly a plane with a message on it through the openings of the castle fence?"
"I guess that would be easier..."
As I went into a deep thought, the sweet smell of roasting apples and cinnamon came trickling into the room.
"Did you sprinkle a lot of brown sugar for me?"
"Those are your tastes," Reese said coldly, and started to whip the cream.
"You're putting whipped cream on it. Oh, that's the best."
As I drooled at the thoughts, Reese looked at me with an appalled look.
"Hey, weren't you going to show Marivel your sincerity?"
Yes. Marivel refused to meet us after that incident, so Reese and I racked our brains together to come up with a way to apologize to her. His plan was to bake her an apple pie. My plan was to write an apology letter and fly it to her with my plane. I took my teacher's advice, 'Do what you want others to do for you for others,' for this plan, but...I honestly had no idea how Marivel would feel about it. I guess she hated us thinking that she's a different "thing" from us, too.
"Your place feels really cozy," I said, as I calculated design patterns of a long distance flight capable paper aircraft on grid paper.
"You think so?"
"It smells great. The cold from the snow doesn't come in either."
"I agree. I like the smell of moist cypress logs, too," Reese replied, while peeking into the oven. Just then, a loud noise came from the door.
"Wh-What's that?"
As we watched the door in surprise, the door creaked open. There was Mr. Canavan, the owner of this cabin, standing with his hands on his head.
"Ouch...my legs, slipped on the sleet," Ol' Canavan growled like a bear as he
shook the water off of his fur overcoat.
"You slipped? Are you all right, uncle?"
Tapping Reese's head as he brought over a towel, Canavan gave a hearty laugh. "Aw, I'm all right. The door might have cracked, though. By the way Reese. Where's that good smell coming from?"
Canavan sniffed his nose and grinned.
"No, it's not for you. That's for a gift I'm taking over today."
"To the little lady at Mr. Bubka's?"
Not knowing how to answer Canavan, we lowered our eyes. Violetta's been cold to us ever since that incident. It seems her memory of Crimson Castle had been erased, but it's no wonder that we've made her mad because of it.
"What's the matter? Was I wrong?"
"Yes...it's someone you don't know. Say, uncle, you're home early today?"
"Aye, the sleet that's been falling today is melting down the new snow from yesterday, so I packed up early, before an avalanche starts up."
"For real? Is this house safe?"
"Hah hah hah! Jack, you're a worrywart.Avalanches start far deeper into the mountains; the forests here'll stop the snow long before it can reach here."
Reese and I faced each other.
"Say, would a big avalanche be dangerous, even if it were a great castle?"
"Let's see...it depends; avalanches have great power. There was a 300 yard wide snowpack that slid down across a two mile perimeter before. When a big one like that comes down, no building is safe," said Canavan, as he took out some sherry from the cabinet.
"Eh, so that means..."
"I think she'll be safe with all those advanced technologies, but..."
"If...if it..."
We gritted our teeth, and ran out of the cabin.
"Hey, wait!! What's up with you guys?!" Canavan yelled, with a bottle in one hand.
"Sorry uncle! Don't worry, we'll be right back!!" Reese replied back, still wearing the apron.
Running through the muddy mountain road, we ran, slipping, into the transporter to the castle. Lucky for us, the gates were unlocked and we ran into the castle unstopped.
"Marivel!!"
"Where are you!?"
Our voices echoed through the creepy stonewall of the hallway.
"Waaaahh...!!"
"Jack!? Reese!?"
Marivel was there holding her forehead, blinking her eyes in astonishment after crashing and landing on her rear. Red and Blue hovered next to her, holding a ladder.
"Why did you come here on a risky day like this?!"
Marivel was mad, with her long hair brisked up.
"Canavan told us an avalanche was near."
"We thought you might not know and..."
"Barriers to stop avalanches are standard issue for us Crimson Nobles living for thousands of years!"
"Th-That's true...I'm sorry, Marivel..."
"I guess it was nothing for us to worry. We're sorry..."
She stared at us, with her face red from anger.
"What I am angry about is...why you two came all the way out here, putting yourselves at risk!"
Her red eyes, which glowed like red flames, fixed on us as we shrunk even further.
"But...we were so worried..."
"Yeah...we thought that if we lost you...uhh...we got so scared and..."
"...Fools..." Marivel said with a small voice, "Fools, both of you!! Potato-heads even!! On top of that, you're complete and helpless nincompoops!" Contrary to her words, her face blushed red and she looked away, continuing to speak in a tiny voice, "So there's no way but to...guide you two myself...!!"
"Marivel!"
Reese and I faced each other, and then rushed to hug her together.
"Take a look at this; it's great!"
Calling over to Reese, I opened the classroom window: white snow fell down from the black clouds.
"Do you think it'll snow enough?"
"According to the radio this morning, I think it will."
"Nice. That's good news."
We looked at each other and grinned; we had a promise with Marivel that we'll get to play together with a snow mobile when it snowed. This year, the first snowfall was belated, compared to previous years, but it looks like we'll get our first chance today. I closed the window as I kept grinning. I never felt a lecture go so long before. As soon as the bell rang, I packed up my books to get ready. Then Violetta, with her cheeks blushed, came over to our desks.
"Hey, would you like to play checkers at my place today? We can't go outside because of the snow, and...I wanted to apologize about the run-in about the ribbon, too."
Slightly withdrawing her eyes from him, she twiddled the tips of her wavy blonde hair.
It slightly hurt my conscience, but Reese replied in a leisurely tone.
"Thanks for inviting, but I already have prior engagements today. I'm sorry about that."
"Oh...is that so..."
Feeling her queen-like pride torn apart, Violetta walked back to her desk. Watching her take her frustration out on the other girls, I shook my head.
"Hey Reese. You should be a little more kind to her."
"Huh? What's that about?"
Snow must have been really curious to him; he was busy stomping footprints into the snow when he turned around, and smiled innocently.
"Well, It's okay if you don't understand."
I backed off, and looked up at the sky: if it's this clouded, Marivel should be able to come out with some bundling up. Hm...? I felt something in the back of my head, so I stopped, and looked around.
"What's up, Jack?"
"No, it's just that I...sort of felt someone watching us."
"Someone watching us? But my uncle said he'll be making baskets at home today."
"Yeah, I guess nobody wants to go into the mountains on a day like this besides ol' Canavan..."
Well, it was probably just my imagination.
"I've been waiting for you two."
As we opened the gates, and went into the room adjacent to the library, Marivel, who was wearing long pants for a change, greeted us.
"Care to drink something warm first?"
Exchanging quick glances, we both answered at the same time.
"No way. We're going riding first!"
"Very well. That's what I thought you'd say. Then, let us depart for the sea of snow!!"
"I'll show you how athletic I am!!"
"Hehehe. But I have experience!"
"I won't lose either!"
We walked with springy steps as we headed for the garage.
"Hm?"
Marivel suddenly fell silent.
"Egh...!!"
Following her line of sight, we grunted unconsciously: the trembling shadow in front of the garage...it was Violetta, standing there with purple cheeks! She must have tumbled many times; her blonde hair was covered with snow, and her clothes were wet and muddy. Accompanied by glaring blue eyes, her appearance had an awesome impact.
"I knew something was going on when that monster attacked us. And the time I caught a glimpse of you at Reese's house..."
While Reese and I froze in silence, she ground her teeth, and yelled, "Let go of them! You MONSTER!!"
"Violetta!"
Pretending not to hear Reese's voice stopping her, she approached Marivel. "What vicious teeth...and your breath isn't turning white. You're really not human...what are you trying to do by deceiving them?"
Violetta tries to grab Marivel's shoulders with both hands, but Marivel silently avoids her moves.
"You are correct, human. I am indeed not human."
The redness of her eyes turned darker. Her long blonde hair rises up, breaking the laws of gravity. My brain is yelling at me to stop Marivel, but my legs refused to move an inch.
"So..."
Marivel's white hand extends towards Violetta's forehead. And then, she uttered short foreign words against the wide-eyed and rigid Violetta. Along with a flare, Violetta's body collapsed to the ground. Scooping her up into her arms, Marivel looked toward us with a colorless face.
The clacking sounds of my teeth felt like they were coming from someone else. A high pitch note rang deep inside my throat. Ahh, Grandma once told me that chickens cried like this when they crush chickens that can't lay any more eggs. I could tell that part of my head was still cool, but I couldn't pry my eyes from her as if bewitched. As we stood there, Marivel approached us without a sound, with Violetta in her arms.
Reese and I stepped back subconsciously. Seeing that, her face crumpled up.
"Go home...never set foot here again...!"
"No, Marivel! We're sorry, it's, it's not that!!"
But Marivel kept her back to us, and went inside the castle. Red and Blue looked at us with a puzzled look, and then followed her inside.
"Marivel...!"
We shouted out her name, but the gates of Crimson Castle roared shut in front of our noses.
--
The noise of sleet rattled the roofs in the afternoon.
"Did you finish writing?"
Reese, wearing a blue apron, came peeking in while stroking his neck.
"Hey...cut it out!"
I dived flat onto the table to cover the letter from Reese's eyes.
"Don't worry, I didn't see it. But is your aircraft really strong enough to fly over the castle wall, with a letter strapped to it?"
"Hey, that's not nice. Have more faith in your airplane specialist, the one and only, Jack."
"You say faith but...can't you just simply fly a plane with a message on it through the openings of the castle fence?"
"I guess that would be easier..."
As I went into a deep thought, the sweet smell of roasting apples and cinnamon came trickling into the room.
"Did you sprinkle a lot of brown sugar for me?"
"Those are your tastes," Reese said coldly, and started to whip the cream.
"You're putting whipped cream on it. Oh, that's the best."
As I drooled at the thoughts, Reese looked at me with an appalled look.
"Hey, weren't you going to show Marivel your sincerity?"
Yes. Marivel refused to meet us after that incident, so Reese and I racked our brains together to come up with a way to apologize to her. His plan was to bake her an apple pie. My plan was to write an apology letter and fly it to her with my plane. I took my teacher's advice, 'Do what you want others to do for you for others,' for this plan, but...I honestly had no idea how Marivel would feel about it. I guess she hated us thinking that she's a different "thing" from us, too.
"Your place feels really cozy," I said, as I calculated design patterns of a long distance flight capable paper aircraft on grid paper.
"You think so?"
"It smells great. The cold from the snow doesn't come in either."
"I agree. I like the smell of moist cypress logs, too," Reese replied, while peeking into the oven. Just then, a loud noise came from the door.
"Wh-What's that?"
As we watched the door in surprise, the door creaked open. There was Mr. Canavan, the owner of this cabin, standing with his hands on his head.
"Ouch...my legs, slipped on the sleet," Ol' Canavan growled like a bear as he
shook the water off of his fur overcoat.
"You slipped? Are you all right, uncle?"
Tapping Reese's head as he brought over a towel, Canavan gave a hearty laugh. "Aw, I'm all right. The door might have cracked, though. By the way Reese. Where's that good smell coming from?"
Canavan sniffed his nose and grinned.
"No, it's not for you. That's for a gift I'm taking over today."
"To the little lady at Mr. Bubka's?"
Not knowing how to answer Canavan, we lowered our eyes. Violetta's been cold to us ever since that incident. It seems her memory of Crimson Castle had been erased, but it's no wonder that we've made her mad because of it.
"What's the matter? Was I wrong?"
"Yes...it's someone you don't know. Say, uncle, you're home early today?"
"Aye, the sleet that's been falling today is melting down the new snow from yesterday, so I packed up early, before an avalanche starts up."
"For real? Is this house safe?"
"Hah hah hah! Jack, you're a worrywart.Avalanches start far deeper into the mountains; the forests here'll stop the snow long before it can reach here."
Reese and I faced each other.
"Say, would a big avalanche be dangerous, even if it were a great castle?"
"Let's see...it depends; avalanches have great power. There was a 300 yard wide snowpack that slid down across a two mile perimeter before. When a big one like that comes down, no building is safe," said Canavan, as he took out some sherry from the cabinet.
"Eh, so that means..."
"I think she'll be safe with all those advanced technologies, but..."
"If...if it..."
We gritted our teeth, and ran out of the cabin.
"Hey, wait!! What's up with you guys?!" Canavan yelled, with a bottle in one hand.
"Sorry uncle! Don't worry, we'll be right back!!" Reese replied back, still wearing the apron.
Running through the muddy mountain road, we ran, slipping, into the transporter to the castle. Lucky for us, the gates were unlocked and we ran into the castle unstopped.
"Marivel!!"
"Where are you!?"
Our voices echoed through the creepy stonewall of the hallway.
"Waaaahh...!!"
"Jack!? Reese!?"
Marivel was there holding her forehead, blinking her eyes in astonishment after crashing and landing on her rear. Red and Blue hovered next to her, holding a ladder.
"Why did you come here on a risky day like this?!"
Marivel was mad, with her long hair brisked up.
"Canavan told us an avalanche was near."
"We thought you might not know and..."
"Barriers to stop avalanches are standard issue for us Crimson Nobles living for thousands of years!"
"Th-That's true...I'm sorry, Marivel..."
"I guess it was nothing for us to worry. We're sorry..."
She stared at us, with her face red from anger.
"What I am angry about is...why you two came all the way out here, putting yourselves at risk!"
Her red eyes, which glowed like red flames, fixed on us as we shrunk even further.
"But...we were so worried..."
"Yeah...we thought that if we lost you...uhh...we got so scared and..."
"...Fools..." Marivel said with a small voice, "Fools, both of you!! Potato-heads even!! On top of that, you're complete and helpless nincompoops!" Contrary to her words, her face blushed red and she looked away, continuing to speak in a tiny voice, "So there's no way but to...guide you two myself...!!"
"Marivel!"
Reese and I faced each other, and then rushed to hug her together.