A Cold Summers Night

[Dakota Atwood]

The young girl shivered, as she pulled the thin fabric of her pants, trying to get it to cover her ankels. The children in the orphanges were hardly cared for. They got handme down's, hardly ever got baths, and they lived off of Bread and occasionally water.

Whimpering, as she felt shivers move down her back, she started to shiver a little more, her teeth chattering. It wasn't odd to have cooler nights in the summer...Dakota had figured that out first Hand. The Five year old wrapped her arms around herself, nuzzeling her goose bump filled limbs, trying to warm up..She wouldn't get sleep today, it was much too cold...

Looking over, she saw a lit window, with Children, about her age, going to kiss their father asleep..Soon, the light went out. She felta ting of pain...why didn't she have that...

[Arianna Sherinath]

Walking in a dark alleyway on a chilly night is not exactly the most encouraging prospect. Even more so when you are a young woman of some marriageable age and wary of meeting any.. unsavory characters.

Arianna released a shuddering breath, pulling her thick cloak around her frame even tighter. For a moment the hand that held her cloak closed rose, tucking her wayward dark hair behind her ear, then froze in the middle of smoothing her hair down. A young girl, no older than five at the most was crouched by the side of the alley, clad only in her sparse clothing. Ari's heart ached for the poor child.

Slowly, the apprentice approached the huddled figure. Was the child even alive? Yes, she could see a faint shivering. The child was definitely alive and suffering from cold. "Poor dear," Ari removed her cloak, the thickness guaranteed to ward of the cold and stood over the girl. "Here." She stooped and draped the material over the child's slight frame.

[Dakota Atwood]

Dakota had grown so accustomed to the sounds of other people moving round her, that she had learned how to live with it, and Ignore them, besides, the cold was starting to get unbearable, and she could care less about the heartless drunks that stumbled into the ally. Looking up as she heard the voice, Dakota jumped, pressing herself into the corner. She was a small child, Short, and Thin.

Whimpering softly, as she watched her, Dakota a let out a small sigh of relife...Although this only lasted for a moment. The heat was heavenly, and there seemed to be a flash of hope in her eyes.."T-t-thank you Ma'am...But I-i-i'll get -i-i-it Dirty.." The young one nodded, as she took the cape off, passing it back to her. Her arms were sickly thin, and it was noticeable that she was weak.

She knew a couple more nights here, like this, would be the end of her...But the orphanage wasn't an open...She wasn't going to go there..She ran away from it, hoping to never see it again..Even if she never grew up...

[Arianna Sherinath]

Ari shook her head, a slightly bemused smile crossing her lips. She held up a hand, indicating that the child should keep it. After all, she had others, perhaps not as thick as the one she had given to the girl but thick enough to keep her going. The smile faded and a frown replaced it as the Apprentice took notice of the thinness of the girl child's arms.

Saying nothing, Ari knelt down in the muck of the alley and wrapped one long-fingered hand around the child's arm. Her fingers could go all the way around the arm- which was mostly skin and bone- and still she could fit two fingers in the gap between her fingers and the child's wrist. Arianna looked up at the child's pale face and smiled again. "I'm Arianna Sherinath. What's your name?" She jostled the girl's arm slightly.

Although she did not break eye contact, the young woman was wondering why this shivering child was sitting cold in an alley and not in an orphanage- not that there was much of a difference- since it was clear the girl had no parents. "Should you not be somewhere other than an alley at this time of night?" She raised one eyebrow.

[Dakota Atwood]

The young girl stared at Arianna, looking down at the warm piece of heaven, wrapping it around her shoulders even more so.. Maybe she could trade it for some food in the morning...But she wasn't going to admit that she was hungry, no, she couldn't do that, this woman was already being so kind to her...

Dakota seemed to back away slightly, as she looked to her arm, the finger around her arm, then back up to Arianna.."W-w-what are you doing.." Dakota managed to whimper out before she felt tears start to come to her eyes. She promised herself she wouldn't cry, but that didn't seem to apply itself to situations like these.."Dakota Atwood...P-p-please don't h-hurt me.." She bit her chapped, pale lip, as she watched arianna's eyes.

She was a girl of only five, she had grew up much too quickly, It was clear dakota hadn't grown up like many other kids...no one from the orphange did..."I-i-i Live h-h-here.." She nodded quietly...It wasn't that Dakota was shy, it was that she was scared...She could have been such a cheerful child, wiht so much life in her...Although, the size of her arm, was only twice as big as the size of her theigh. It seemed amazing she could have survived as long as she did now..

[Kina =3]

The air whipped Kina's face as he decided to come back to the alleys. He shivered under his cloak.

[Kina =3]

As he pulled his lamp in front of him, a [glow=yellow,2,300]comforting glow[/glow] radiated onto the alleyway. He sighed, and trudged on.