Twisted Embers

Hide and Seek

"It's a very simple game," Fir intoned. "As long as you haven't been living under a rock for your entire life you've probably played it." Deanna's eye twitched. Was she seriously going to play this child's game? There was business to attend to! Fir spoke again, "It's called Hide and Seek." Deanna nearly groaned. Fir simply looked at Deanna with a knowing smile. Deanna hated- no, she couldn't use that word for the precious heir. She highly disagreed with Princess Fir's actions and decisions sometimes. A lot of the time. Deanna forced a smile and asked, "So if you win the game, you will wear the dress?" "You have my word," she replied.

Princess Fir gave her requirements for the game and told Nikita she would be the seeker. She instructed Deanna to be the timer, so she wouldn't have an unfair advantage having known the Princess for most of her life. She watched as Deanna's years of experience covered the rage in her features, though those eyes didn't reflect the calm face. Fir told Nikita to close her eyes and turn away, then nodded to Deanna to start counting. "50, 49, 48..." Fir bolted from the room, laughing at the childish freedom. Fir had memorized every square inch of the castle, and knew the perfect hiding places. With Nikita being the inexperienced seeker, there was no way she could find her. Fir headed down from the tower, weaving past startled servants and a visiting noble. Fir was running too fast to see who they were. Fir took a turn in the direction of the servant's quarters, then took a sharp left and traveled down, down, down near the dungeons. Before she got to that level though, she slowed and looked for a door. It was a door to a small closet holding chains and other fun things for prisoners, and it was right... there! She quietly opened the door as she caught her breath, then squeezed her way past the cluttered items and climbed onto a shelf, shutting the door behind her. All she had to do now was listen. So she waited for what felt like hours, but couldn't have been more than 20 minutes, until she heard someone approaching her little closet. Fir grinned for a moment, but it faded quickly as she realized the footfalls were too heavy to be Nikita's. They didn't have that fraction of a second of space in between them before the pad of your foot falls after the heel either. The door opened, and Princess Fir's eyes went wide.

Nikita felt like this was unfair. She was technically cheating, given the info she received from Deanna. After the nursemaid was done counting, she had given Nikita a list of Princess Fir's most frequent hiding spots, and promptly told Nikita that if she wasn't found there would be... certain repercussions. Nikita wondered what Deanna's deal was. Best not think of that now, Nikita had already checked 2 of the 7 possible hiding places and hadn't found the Princess. She was closest to the dungeons, so she thought to check there next. As she got closer to the closet (at least she assumed she was getting closer) she began to hear someone else up ahead. That might be her! Nikita's steps became hurried as she picked up speed down the stairs, but then slowed again as she saw the man ahead of her at the door to the closet. He opened the closet and she heard a small gasp. Nikita was about to call out to the man, until Princess Fir shot away from the closet yelling, "UNCLE DANNY!"

Princess Fir was ecstatic. She hadn't seen her uncle in years! He was so different, yet somehow still the same. His skin was the sun kissed tan of the island region he inhabited, complete with darker spots where his scales came through (not all dragons could transform entirely). His slightly curved, pale orange horns rose from his mess of curly black hair, and his brown eyes were framed by square black spectacles. The scar he received by his lip in childhood was almost the same red as the fluffed kerchief around his neck, complete with etchings in gold. Under that he wore a sleeveless white tee with kaki shorts and not surprisingly, no shoes. Her uncle was the only noble she knew to dress so casually.
She envied how he was so careless when it came to other people's judgement. "I thought you would have caught me in the hallway," he said in that smooth, rhythmic voice. She laughed and hugged him, replying, "I missed you." He nodded in agreement, then looked to the side at Nikita. Fir followed his gaze. "Oh!" she remarked, "I guess you found me..." Nikita met her eyes, quietly excusing herself for interrupting. Fir pardoned her, her thoughts really on that dreadful dress she would have to wear. Her uncle caught on. "Bad choice of clothing?" She winced. "Try horrendous." He laughed, "I'll see what I can do." She flashed him a wicked grin and jumped onto his back, minding his wings. "To Deanna! Let's go Nikita!" Fir held on as her uncle bounded up the steps easily with her on his back, just like old times. She had won hide and seek, just in a different way.

{Happy birthday to you, you live in a zoo, you look like a monkey, and you smell like one too! Happy birthday to my dad! Fir's Uncle is based off of him, and just as Danny is special to Fir, my father is special to me :) My dad is flat-footed, which is why Nikita says the footfalls sound off, and he was born/raised in Puerto Rico, the island mentioned.}