ONESHOT: Young Madison Cuts Down A Tree
SCENE: Madison Chops Down a TreeSCENE: Aunt Mirabelle tells the children offSCENE: The Old Man Saves The Children
SCENE: Madison Chops Down a Tree
Droplets fall from the sky, ignorant as the plapper-plapper of dark boots run across the soaked dirt road; its owner wearing a semi-translucent rain coat, covering her entire body from head to toe.
Under the dark greyed-out skies, one can barely make out her features, save for the purple hair that falls over one eye. The child-sized figure impatiently stretches her hand out to a waiting figure, wearing the same translucent rain coat.
"Didja bring it, Sachiin'?"
"Of course."
The other small figure produces from under her raincoat, a wooden chopping axe, its bladed tip dripping with a viscous black liquid. This liquid is unaffected by rain nor logic, continually producing droplets which fall to the ground, forming a batter-like puddle.
"Urgh. 「Kiminoi」. Did you have to draw it like its S##### H## again?"
"What...?"
"Nothing~ 「Nattomondai」~ Hold the camera for me, Sachiin'!"
The first child yoinks the chopping axe from (Sachiin')'s hands, twirling it around in her fingers like a parade baton. Finishing with a flourish, she brandishes it like a newly acquired weapon after defeating a boss monster. (Sachiin) stands by the side, perhaps a holding the hand-sized rectangular object, a darkly sinister look painted on her face under the shaded treeline.
"Nice! It feels like the real thing!"
"What are you going to with that, Madison?"
"Do you REALLY need to ask, Sachiin'?"
"The same thing we do every night!"
"We are going to..."
Raising the axe handle up high with both hands the exposed blade tip glints under the glistening oil-like liquid.
"... fuck glowies!"
The axe comes down swiftly, like a released guillotine.
There is a loud 'THWOCK'.
And then a great shout.
SCENE: Aunt Mirabelle tells the children off
A woman dressed in fine clothes not fitting her age bursts through the orphanage's front doors. Her white top is drenched a transparent white, along with her tight-fitting corset and long skirt with a parted slit. Moving with speed abnormal for one in high heels, she deposits the two troublemakers she had been holding by the scuff in front of the fireplace.
The two translucent rain-coat wearing troublemakers tumble a not great height onto the sun-decorated carpet, falling on each other in a heap.
"You two..."
"Aunt Mirabelle, we can explain!" The purple-haired troublemaker turns her head to her accomplice, "Quick, explain, Sachiin'!!"
The person Madison is speaking to is Sachiko. A perfect exemplar of a conspiracy-chaser, she will not fold to Aunt Mirabelle's Intimidate (78) attempt!
"Madison made me do it."
"NOT LIKE THAT!!!"
Young Madison recoils in wide-eyed horror at the obvious betrayal.
"I thought as much."
Arms crossed across her volumptous chest, Aunt Mirabelle stands menacingly over the two children, tapping the side of her left heel. This is our current caretaker, Aunt Mirabelle. She's no-fun allowed, always trying to break up our fun! Typical jannie behavior! The frigid hag! She probably sleeps with skeletons! And probably does it for free too! (she does)
"Explain yourself, young lady."
"The glowies are on the move! We need the firewood to learn HM03 and take the fight to the glowies!"
"In normal Vespanola, please."
The 'please' came with closed eyes and a vein almost bursting with anger. Aunt Mirabelle's heels tap with an even faster tempo, matching the cursed false smile creeping lightly up her face.
It did not take much to get Madison to surrender to the pressure.
"... we wanted to build a raft."
Head bowed, Madison confesses with pouting embarrassment. Kneeling on the ground she fidgets with her index fingers in her hap. In contrast, her chestnut red-haired companion kneels quietly upright with her eyes closed.
"A raft? Just because the snow has thawed now doesn't mean you two get to cavort around with dangerous tools."
"Axe. Hand it over." Aunt Mirabelle stretches out her palm for the murder weapon.
"Don't have it. Its Sachiin's [manifest]. [1]"
"MADISON!!!"
Now it is the young sorceress's turn to recoil in horror as Madison brattily sticks out a small tongue at her companion. Madison's face full of spiteful 'heh', narrowing her eyes at the fox of a sorceress who betrays.
"It's YOUR fault that we got found out! What'cha you acting so innocent for, Sachin'?!"
"Oh, is it?! You COULD have been more specific when you said you wanted a 'bigger axe'!"
A bratty hair-pulling scuffle ensures in a flurry of small childish fists, for all of three seconds before the referee breaks up the fight by pulling the both away by the scuff. Even in the air, Madison is still trying to pull at Sachiko's pigtails, while Sachiko's little hands are groping at Madison's cheeks, trying to squish it into putty.
"That's it! You two are groun..."
Before Aunt Mirabelle could finish her sentence, the slow tapping of a walking stick announced the arrival of troublemaking duo's saviour.
"Oh Mira..."
"... its a little too late to be fighting with children, it is?"
Notes
[1] Manifest - The basic form of magick on the New Continent. Most sorceresses are able to bring forth
SCENE: The Old Man Saves The Children
"Godfather."
Mirabelle immediately drops the two to the ground, Madison now fully prepared for it lands safely on her feet, knees trembling slightly from the impact. The far less athletic Sachiko lands on her bum, rubbing the pain away.
The newly entered figure stands just outside the light of the fireplace. This wizened old man is [Old Man Sunset], the owner of the orphanage. Making an all too obvious wink by completely closing one eye at young Madison...
"Sleep!" Madison bursts out, "I'm feeling sleepy, Sachiin', aren't you feeling sleepy?!"
Sachiko, who also noticed the old man's arrival now fakes a yawn with one eye closed.
"Hmm hmm, it does seem like bedtime to me."
The two troublemakers in sync, Madison grabs Sachiko's hand and yanks Sachiko to her feet; the two make a mad dash for the second floor stairs! Running past the old man, Sachiko quietly makes a small nod at the old man, while Madison much more mischievously flashes a thumbs up at him. The children exit the scene of the crime, slamming and latch-locking the door of their second floor bedroom shut.
Leaving the two caretakers by the fireplace.
Seeing the two pitterpatter up the stairs, the old man slumps back in a comfy chair by the fireplace, opening up a grimoire with his walking stick in lap, like nothing happened.
"Godfather, you...!"
"... 'spoil them too much' is what you would say, Mira."
"Did you know what they were doing? They were trying to chop down a tree!"
The old man chuckles.
"Hardly seems a crime to me."
"To raft into the surrounding islands!"
"It's not like they are going past the ice shelf."
"By turning a chopping axe into an eighteen-foot murder weapon with magick?!?!"
The rocking stops momentarily.
"Really..."
Mirabelle nods vigorously with her hands on her hips. The old man strokes his long, grey board with eyes closed.
And the rocking begins again with a little more pep.
"Children are so talented these days, bwahahaha!"
Mirabelle rolls her eyes at her old man's reply. Putting both palms up in the air, resigning to the old man's assuredness of a nonsensical reply.
"You were far wilder back in the day, Mira."
Bringing up his walking stick, the old man move the long body of the cane across his right palm, [manifesting] a pair of white drinking cups, passing one to the disraught Mirabelle who receives and sips the warm cocoa with with hands.
"That was ancient history, and..."
"... and?"
"The two of them have been acting strange since they made 'that'."
The two caretakers turn their gazes to the beat-up white box sitting on a corner table. The fat, obtusely rectangular box has a piece of glass in the middle like a crystal orb, screening its contents from outside. Yet it is no magickal implement. All manner of many-colored rubbered strings run from its back down to the floor, where a similarly cased white box stands upright like a long box-like tower.
"Young Madison calls it a 「Paso-com」."
"Do they...?" The old man closes one red eye, perhaps a little tired, perhaps hiding the smirth on his face.
"Have you heard young Madison speak recently?" Mirabelle gulps down the last of the hot cocoa, "Riddle after riddle bursts forth from the young lady's mouth, sometimes not even in Vespanola!"
"Don't worry, the children are all right."
"I certainly hope so!", Mirabelle pouts before handing the cup back to the old man, who lightly throws them in the air, disappearing in black and red [menne] [2] which disperses as quickly as they form.
"I'll give them a good telling to in the morning, are you sleeping, Godfather?"
"Oh, I'll be here for a while." Burying his face in the grimoire, the old man waits for the footsteps to recede from the living room with a bow.
With Mira gone...
The old man gingerly lifts himself up from the comfy chair, walking towards the 「Paso-com」walking stick in hand. Fondly brushing the top of the tabled white box like seeing a memento from before an olden past...
"...very talented indeed."
The old man visibly keks.
Notes
[2] menne - The “form” that magick takes on the New Continent. Sorceresses with manifests “form” the menne they are born with or manipulate menne they acquire to wield magick spells.
