Escaping

[Mira Nightingale]

It was late afternoon, almost early evening, and Mira had gotten into another fight with her parents. They were trying to introduce her to some young man who was a merchant in the grain market, hoping for her to get married once again. After meeting the man, who had rather bad acne on his forehead, Mira had politely excused herself with the excuse that she didn’t feel well, and had snuck out of the house.

She hadn’t had time to change her clothing before she left her house, so she was still wearing the elaborate pink evening gown with soft lace trimming and silk overskirt, along with small, pink, slipper-like shoes, that she had met yet another suitor wearing. She felt a little overdressed as she was walking down the street, so had taken the first right and quickly hustled down to the library, the nearest public place she could go to at this time.

She had entered the library after waiting a minute to catch her breath, and had walked directly inside and started browsing the shelves, hiding herself from view from the main door incase one of her esteemed relatives came after her, demanding that she go back home.

[Dakota Atwood]

Dakota only seemed to be in there because of the cool atmosphere. She had been out all day in the sun, and her pale face was turning a dark shade of red, she was rather burnt, but she payed no attention to that...Her clothing, well it hadn'tbeen changed at all, none the less she couldn't afford a dress or such. It might have been embarasing, but the five year old wore undergarments, which once must have cost much money, but they were seeminly too large for her, and tied with old leather to be used as a belt. The shirt hung off her shoulders, in a grotesque like fashion. Her attire wasn't white..It was covered in dust, ugly, ripped, and stained. Her own skin was covered in dust, her face covered in dirt..She didn't even wear shoes...She didn't have anything to buy them with..Besides, she was fine walking barefoot...

Looking around at the Markings on the books, she paused as she ran her finger across the spine of the book. The Librarian had felt rather sorry for the child, and as long as she stayed in his view, she would be allowed in the Library. He watched her like a hawk none the less, yelling at her to stop touching the books.

Jumping as her hand whipped from the book, to her side, she bumped into..royalty maybe? Whimpering softly, she wasn't able to find words to say to her..."S-s-sorry M'lady.." Quickly the five year old bowed her head, as she couldn't help but stare at the Material...she just wanted to reach out and touch it...how soft it must have felt agenst her legs..the color was a rare one too...Her head bowed, her eyes wandered, looking at the dress, she had never seen something like that up close.."I didn't mean to get it dirty.." She replied just above a whisper..

[Mira Nightingale]

One book high up on the shelf caught Mira’s eye. Reaching upward she pulled down the elaborately bound romance novel and absently flicked through the pristine pages. It looked good enough to pass the time reading since she wasn’t going to return home until everyone there had cooled down and sent the merchant away. He was old enough to be her father! Again and again she told her parents that she would marry out of love, but again and again they insisted that she had a duty to the family and she would wed someone they approved of.

As she turned to go find a table in the back where she could settle down to read, someone bumped into her. As she looked down, she realized that it was a very young child, an extremely dirty child, at that. She looked like she hadn’t bathed in months, and was wearing what Mira could only call oversized undergarments. The girl looked up at her and stammered an apology, then apologized yet again for getting a little smudge on her dress, after she stared at it in wonder.

Feeling slightly awkward Mira crouched down as much as possible in the evening gown until she was face to face with the young girl. “That’s quite all right.” she told the girl with a small, hesitant smile. “Are you here by yourself, or are your parents nearby?” she asked her, eyes roaming over the parts of the library that were in sight.

[Dakota Atwood]

(( Crappppyyy post. Sorry. eye patch makes it hard lol. ))

Dakota paused as she backed up slightly just in case Mira decided to grab her wrists or something and take her to the orphange agenst her will. Whimpering slightly, she stared at the ground, once more, knowing it was imporper for her to be looking up to Mira...even though Mira had made the effort to come face to face with her.

Biting her lip hard, Dakota shook her head.."No...My Parents..are gone.." She nodded quietly, who knew, maybe they were out there somewhere...atleast Dakota could dream. She was told they died, and in truth they did die..Dakota paused, as she pulled out a couple of coins she stole, her shaky boney hand passing them to Mira.."I hope that covers cleaning your dress.." Dakota said, in a small voice...Mira didn't look Mad, although she looked like she was rich, her hair done, a fancy dress..she was after all just in the Library...so she had to be rich...

As she saw her look around, Dakota quickly glanced back to the floor.."I don't want to bother you Ma'am..." She paused, as she looked towards the book shelfs, knowing that the book keeper was staring at her, wondering if he should come over, and Drag dakota away, kick her out for Disturbing the costumers..

[Mira Nightingale]

The girl whimpered to herself, the sound almost breaking Mira’s heart. Then the girl said that her parents were dead, breaking Mira’s heart even more. She was an orphan. No wonder she was so filthy, thin, and underdressed. She couldn’t be more than six years old, and she was on her own… living either in an orphanage or on the streets. Mira really hoped that it was the orphanage, for the girl’s sake. The streets at night and the gloomy back alleys were hardly a place she should be.

Then the girl handed her several measly coins, saying that she hoped they would cover the cost of cleaning her dress. Cleaning her dress didn’t cost anything, since all she had to do was give it to a servant, but she knew that she couldn’t say that to the girl. “You know what?” she asked her after a moment, getting an idea. “Why don’t we trade? I’ll take those coins, and give you some in return. So then the cleaning will be paid for with your money, but you won’t lose anything. How’s that sound?” she hoped the girl didn’t know the difference between the small coins she held, and larger gold pieces. Money was money to a child, after all.

“No, you’re not bothering me.” Mira said, itching to make the girl stop looking at the ground. “What’s your name?” she asked, hoping to make the girl less nervous in her presence.

[Dakota Atwood]

Dakota had no idea what the effects of her pathetic little noises did to mira. She knew herself that she wasn't worth much, as a human being, and once she would have gotten older, she woul dhave probebly been kidnapped and taken as a slave. No one worried about her, they didn't have to. Biting her lip, Dakota had little knowledge of the wealthy,a nd the servants. She simply thought if you wanted to have something done, you had to do it yourself, or pay someone to do it..

As She spoke up, her eyes Darted up for a moment, before they quickly lowered themselfs once more, almost as quick as they shot up.. She bit her lip, and shook her head.."N-n-no...I couldn't..I cause the Damage.." Dakota was a bit surprised with how nice Mira was, she was expecting a slap, or a hit across her head...

Scraching her muskquito bit legs, filled with scabs, she pulled her pants up a bit, so that they wouldn't be dragging ont he gtound as much, rolling them up..Dakota had figured though that smaller coins were less, and larger ones were more...thats why she only found the small ones...But the girl had no idea how much they were worth exactly..she couldn't even count.

"Dakota Atwood.." She smiled slightly, and looked to a window.."I live right there..I've seen you before.." Dakota smiled at the ground slightly, it was true, but then again Dakota saw many people pass by, she had made a game of trying to recognize people..although Dakota was the one that shivered threwout many nights in the ally way, leaving a small chattering noise of her teeth...

[Mira Nightingale]

“Of course you can trade.” Mira said smoothly, trying to calm the girl’s nerves. She reached into her filled purse and extracted a single gold piece, placing it in the girl’s hand, which was still open and holding her own coins. “You take that, then, if you really don’t want to trade.” she said in a tone that signified the end of the conversation. It was an adult tone, one she had rarely used even with her servants, but she felt that now was an appropriate time to use it.

When the girl scratched her legs, making her pants ride up a bit, Mira had to bite the inside of her cheek not to cringe. The girl’s legs were as filthy as the rest of her, scratched, scabbed, and mosquito bitten. She felt awful for the girl, and briefly wondered what her parents would say if she brought her home. Somehow it seemed that Dakota wouldn’t accept the offer, though, so she would have to find another way to get the girl properly dressed and cleaned.

“And my name’s Mira.” she told Dakota with a soft smile as the girl introduced herself. “It’s a pleasure to meet the girl that’s seen me before.” she told her with a smile as she glanced to where Dakota was pointing, and not really understanding where, exactly.

[Dakota Atwood]

Dakota smiled slightly, as she felt a little better, placing the smaller coins to Mira. Well, she figured that it was almost the same amount, she couldn't tell though. Biting her lip, Dakota looked down at the Gold piece. She smiled to herself slightly, atleast she wouldn't be eating stale bread for a while now...She felt slightly more relaxed, and calm...But she still didn't want to mess anything up.

The young girl looked around, looking towards the Ally, hoping no Drunk would stumble in. She had worked hard at getting a spot there...Yes, occasionally you ran into a couple Rats, but it wasn't as bad as some places she had stayed in. The orphange was known for having a roach problem...And in dakota's oppinon, that was much worse then rats. Shivering slightly at the thought, Dakota looked back tothe book keeper, who eyed her like a hawk..She looked back up to Mira for a moment, before her eyes found their way to her hands...

"It's nice to meet you too Ma'am.." Dakota paused, looking towards the window for a moment.."Shoot!" Dakota exclaimed, as she stared at the Drunk moving into the Ally. She let out a small sigh, before she bit her lip..."I-i should get going Ma'am.." Dakota paused, her eyes glued to what was her home...Now the coin's excitment was gone, she had another headache on her hands...Finding a Safe, and warm place to sleep.

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira shook her head as Dakota called her ma’am. “My name is Mira.” she repeated, her voice just a little firm. “You should call me by my name. I don’t like being called anything else.” When Dakota placed all five of her coins into Mira’s hand, she extracted four more gold pieces from her purse and handed them to the girl. “Five coins traded for five coins. That makes us even, okay?” she asked Dakota, nodding her head and smiling that they were perfectly even.

Dakota had a minor outburst, and Mira turned to look where she was looking. There was a drunken man staggering into the alley she had said she lived in. Then, Dakota said that she had to get going. “Wait one minute.” she said, standing back up and taking a few steps away from the girl as to not appear too tall. “Where are you going? That drunk just went into your alley.”

[Dakota Atwood]

"B-but that would be r-rude.." Dakota paused, as she bit her lip. She knew that someone of her own class shouldn't have really been talking with Mira. She was an orphan for gods sakes. Biting her lip hard, Dakota looked at Mira, then to her hand, her eyes not wanting to belive..." Are you kidding me..." Hard to belive it, but Dakota had never owned this much Gold. She bit her lip, as she stared at it in her hands, shaking her head.."I..I couldn't take it.." She bit her lip, she would have gladly taken it, but that wouldn't have been very nice..

Staring at the window for a moment, she shrugged.."I have to find some other place now...Eather that or go kick him out...But I'd rather not.." She smirked slightly, Drunk men, were Dangerous, she had already learned her lesson with a black eye once.. looking towards Mira, she smiled slightly, although there was stress written all over her face. Oh well, she though Maybe today she didn't need to sleep as badly as she thought she did..."It was Nice meeting you.."

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira shook her head. “No, that wouldn’t be rude. What would be rude is calling a person by a name they don’t like. Don’t you think so?” Then Dakota stared hard at the gold pieces, muttering to herself about how she couldn’t accept them. “Of course you’ll take them. We traded. If you give them back, then we won’t be even anymore.”

Dakota was just about to leave, but Mira stopped her. She didn’t want to think of what would happen to this girl alone on the streets with drunk men around. Shivering slightly, but not from the cold, she shook her head forcibly. “You are not going to go anywhere near that man.” she said stiffly, although she didn’t feel at all like a person in charge. “That’s dangerous. You need to go to an orphanage, or, at least somewhere that you’re not alone.”

[Dakota Atwood]

"I Guess you're right.." Dakota paused, as she nodded slightly, considering what Mina had just said to her. The young girl scrunched up her noise, and shook her head before biting her lip to glance around just once more...

Although Dakota stopped, and slowly backed away from Mira, just incase she tried to Grab her, and force her into the orphange....No, she wasn't going there..."I'm Fine where I am..." Dakota kepted her Guard up. But Just in case she needed to run,s he was already thinking about where to Run to, and how to get out of here. Mira Might have had a nice home and such, But Dakota was almost positive that she never knew how they treated young orphans there..atleast when they were alone. It wasn't something pretty. Dakota had scars to prove that. Smirking slightly, she glared up at Mira. It wasn't out of hate...

"There's More then One Drunk Man In these Streets..." Dakota knew that for a fact, you just had to find them. And that was easy thing to Do. Bending down to scrach her leg She dusted it off slightly, although it didn't seem to do much...

[Mira Nightingale]

Mira nodded, trying to hide her smile as Dakota agreed to keep the gold coins. She knew they would get her quite a bit of food and clothing, as well as a nice bath and even a room at a common inn for a few weeks. Knowing that a five year old girl wouldn’t know these things, and merchants would try to take advantage of her for her gold pieces, she suddenly got an idea. “You know what, Dakota?” she asked the girl as she lowered herself back toward the ground and eye level with the little girl. “Why don’t we go spend some of your money? Shopping is fun, and if I’m with you then no one will lie to you about the price.”

When Dakota suddenly became angry, nervous and upset about the mention of the orphanage, Mira held up her hands in surrender. “All right, all right.” she told the girl, although she made a mental note to go find out why the girl hated the orphanage. “No orphanage. I won’t mention it again.”

At the mention of there being more than one drunk man, Mira had to suppress a sigh. Of course there was more than one drunk man, but if the girl went somewhere else she had a less of a chance to be around one. She remained quiet, however, knowing that saying anything more on the subject wouldn’t get her anywhere.

[Dakota Atwood]

the young one stared at her for a few moments, then looked down at the shiney gold coins, biting her lip.."Spend it?" She whimpered quietly, And paused, trying to think of a good reason for spending the money.."What good would that be..Besides, Bread only costs A copper coin or so.." She Scrunched up her noise, as she Watched Mira, eye to eye. Her own blue eyes staring at her own. "I don't want to take up your time.." She lowered her head slightly. She had calmed down a considerable amount, but she still continued to hate the orpahgnage...

"Do you Promise not to?" Dakota put her Pinkey out, wanting Mira to make it a pinkey Promise. She Trusted her pretty well though, She wasn't going to do anything Stupid she hoped. Biting her lip, Dakota nodded Quietly... They didn't have to go shopping, but It was a nice thing for Mira to offer.Dakota could have been a sweet girl, but at times, she could have been pickey, and annoying. Espeically now, and today. That was simply because she was tired, she was Hungry, And her home had been invaded.

[Mira Nightingale]

“Spend it on more than bread.” Mira said after a moment, watching Dakota carefully and noting how her expressions changed, making her so easy to read. “How about we go buy something nice to eat? Some hot soup, maybe, or some freshly grilled meat or fish?” she asked the girl, hoping that she would have a weakness to more than food. “Let’s go buy a feast with one of your new coins. If you don’t want to pay, then we can split it, or I can.” she added after a moment.

“Promise.” Mira replied with a quick nod, entwining her own pinky with Dakota’s smaller one.

((Blah… sorry for the short post.))