The World of Netarvia

The little blonde girl ran through the village as she giggled loudly. Her face was smudged with dirt and her clothes was ragged and worn. She screamed of joy as the white-aproned baker ran after her, the fat face red with anger as he raised his rolling pin up in the air. His Belly bounced heavily up and down as his short legs ran as fast as they could, but in vain. The little blonde girl was soon lost.

Once she turned a corner and new he had lost her, she sat down and nibbled her bread, Sharing it with a little brown-spotted puppy.
She peered intently at the street to be certain no one would notice her little stealing fingers.

A shadowy figure watched her from across the street. it was near invisible, standing in the shadow of an alley between two buildings. No distinguishing features could be made out, it was not even clear wether the figure was male or female. Dressed in a dull grey cloak with a hood covering its face, most passers by simply thought it to be a traveller. The only things which suggested otherwise were the two sword sheathes, mostly hidden by the cloak except for their tips, hanging from the figures belt.

Though not obvious, the gaze of the hooded figure was fixed on the small blonde girl. Whatever its reasons for being in the village, she was a key part of them.

The lassie giggled at the begging puppy, and gave the last piece of bread to it. A soft rolling child voice could be heard down the alley as she jumped through it, singing softly to herself. Green and curious eyes crisscrossed through the street as her happy feet went, until they laid their eyes on a little garden with beautiful yellow and purple flowers.

A rolling laughter thrilled from her throat as she nicked a few flowers, making a little bouquet of them. Except for one special flower. It was a pink flower, which she decided to place in her hair, just behind her right ear. She knew what sort of flower it was, for she was named after it.

The child continued down the street, singing on a song about thorny flowers, until she came down to the broad river that flowed by the little village. Small fingers traced along wooden boards, that made the dock, until she finally found her spot. She pushed aside a few boards, and then crawled in through the narrow hole, all the while making certain the puppy was with her.

The figure followed the small girl throughout her playing, keeping just enough distance between them to pass unseen. When she came to a stop and placed the pink flower in her hair, the figure stopped- before its movements had been fluid and almost continuous, now it stood still, almost in shock. For a moment the figures hand went to the hood covering it and puled it back ever so slightly, though little was revealed, the figures face mostly covered by a scarf. all that could be seen were two vivid green eyes, seemingly regretful.

As the girl moved away the moment had apparently passed, and fixing its hood once more the figure followed. When the girl disapeared beneath the dock, the figure quickly glanced around to make sure there were no other people nearby, then drew a very small dagger. It moved towards the hidden entrance then tore back the panel, eyes darting around.

Once the little girl had come inside her little hiding place, she started cleaning a few toys up. Mostly ragged dolls that had lost some sort of bodypart. She placed them in a little corner as she talked to them, saying how naughty and misbehaved they were. She then crawled over to a poorly filled haymatress and sat down on it.

Just as she sat down, she noticed a little flicker of the light through the boards that hid her. Terror swept over her face as she clearly thought it was the angry baker who had finally found her and was now coming to cut her hands of. With her eyes on the boards, she quickly hurried over to a little wooden box that was stood at the other side of the little "room", it was made out as a table, and lifted it up so that she could crawl underneath it.

She quickly grabbed her puppy and squeezed herself down in the homemade hole. The hole was dug out just a little bigger than she was, so that she could fit in it in case of emergencies. She managed to replace the box, just as she heard the boards creak.

Her heart pounded heavy and fast as she motioned for the puppy to be silent. Everything was dark in her little, safe hole.

The figure dropped in to the small opening, blocking out most of the light. For a moment it did nothing but then it spoke in a hushed voice, perhaps female though nothing could be certain.
"I know you're here girl. You may not be likely to believe me but it will be much harder for you if you don't come out."

The figure moved forward slowly, glancing around the small room before settling on the box. Its hand shifted so that the light escaping round the edges of the door glinted off the knife.
"This is poisoned. One little cut and you would be in a deep enough sleep for me to carry you out. I'd rather not though, better if you can run when theres need..."

As if in responce to this statement, voices began to drift through the opening. The masked figure turned round quickly, replacing the wood that had covered it and plunging the room into darkness. save the small shafts of light escaping through the cracks between planks. Footsteps could be heard from above, moving to the end of the dock. The figure tensed, another longer dagger appearing in its other hand as more voices could be heard, the occasional word reaching them.
"Must be...somewhere. Find...girl...force...needed." The rest of the conversation wasnt clear enough to be made out, not helped by the fact that the men spoke in accents obviously not from this village.

For several heartstopping moments it seemed that the entrance would be uncovered and the others would burst in, but the footsteps gradually moved away. The shadowy figure turned back to the box, addressing the girl once more.
"Of course, you can try your luck with them. Though i wouldnt recommend it."

The little girl held her breath for as long as she could, until she had to breathe out and catch a new breath. She could here the person talking lowly, right above her.
With a tight arm around the puppy, she tried to peer out from a little crack, but could see nothing. Her tight grip on the pup, caused it to become unsettled. With tiny legs it started kiccking and wriggling to try get lose from her grip, causing her to hold around it tighter.
The little pup whimpered as it finally got lose, before settling on her stomach and licking her face.

For a moment she forgot about the danger and she giggled at the pup in an attempt of trying to push it away, before she suddenly realised the danger she put herself in. Small hands quickly covered her mouth as her eyes stared widely, hoping she had not revealed her little hiding spot.

The pink flower pressed against her temple, its thorns pricking her skin and at the same time, making small drops of blood ooze out of the tiny wounds.


(( <.< sorry, I've been away! ))

((also sorry, i barely get on anymore))

At the small sound from the girl, the dark figure plunged the long dagger into the wood of the box. It was sharp enough to cut through smoothly, easily able to slice through her flesh had it struck her. However its blade appeared beside her face, carefully aimed to minimise the risk of her actually being injured.
"You can come out now and not make a noise or i can give you enough poison to make a grown man sleep for two days straight. It makes my job a lot easier if your willing, but don't think i wouldn't."

The blade was pulled out and the figure took a step back, having to hunch low in the tight space. It readied the poisoned blade while watching to see if the girl would move, while sheathing the dagger and feeling for the hidden hatch above.

The little lassie screamed as the dagger cut through the pink flower in her hair. Small sobs drifted from the box as she whispered for her mummy, her voice a childs fragile and innocent sound, broken by her sobs.

Her little hands moved the box slowly as her eyes peered around with a scared look. Once she noticed the person hovering over her, she hid her face as her sobs increased in sound.

"I had to take the bread, or Puppy would have no food!" she said through her sobs as she clutched the little puppy to her chest.
"P-please.. Don't kill us.." She peered through her fingers, up at the cloaked fogure, with pleading in her eyes.

The figure moved reached out to take hold of the girls wrist as soon as she revealed herself. The hard green eyes softned slightly at the sight of the terrified child.
"I won't kill you...i don't want to hurt you either. But there are others who will if you don't come with me."
The figure pushed open the door in the roof and climbed out, making sure they were alone, before crouching before it and reaching in to beckon the young girl.
"They will come back soon, if you want to live we need to get out of this village now"

The little lassie nodded slowly as she looked up at the cloaked figure, and wiped her tears away bravely as she lifted up the little pup so that the figure could take him out before her. "Don't drop him.. " she whispered as she disappeared into the shadows of the little room.
The sound of shuffling and movement could be heard from the dark, anr d the little girl soon popped back into the little light that got through the hatch in the roof.
She reached her hands up for the stranger to grap them and pull her up, a bundle hanging at her back. "Where will you take me..?" She asked in a low voice, not looking at the figure.

"I know somewhere nearby that's hidden, but we need to get out safely first..."
The figure looked around, clearly expecting something to jump out at any moment. The small dog moves back to the girl as the figure moves away, clearly not interested in it, and draws one of its long swords and reaches to take the girls hand.
"You need to be able to run as fast as you can to keep up, there are others here and once they see you, they'll probably kill anyone else in their way to get to you."
With a last glance at the girl the figure started to run, pulling the girls wrist and forcing her to follow down a dark alley.

The girl stared around with terrified eyes, her small feet stumbling of the speed. The figures grip on her was the only thing that kept her from falling completely. She watched behind her as the puppy followed, and she breathed out relieved as it managed to keep pace.

"I-I'm scared... " she breathed through her clenched teeth, tears starting to stream down her face again. "Come on Puppy, don't fall behind!" she said in a soft whisper, her lungs too tired for her to speak steadily.