[Custom Prompt] Luccicare had finished her daily rounds when the sudden scream of a young child was heard. There was no question that it was a horrified yelp of a child in trouble. Just around the corner of the Royal Exchange was a few spritelings that were terrorizing the local region. How did they get there? Perhaps a mage was playing with portals again? Three of the armed munchkins were chasing the child. What does she do? How does she handle it? Does she bother at all? Write it out!
I apologize for the amount of time this took. I played around with a lot of different ideas and when I went this direction, I thought it might be interesting. Thank you for the lovely prompt and I hope you enjoy.
Luccicare had always found the Hall of Blood to be terribly hollow. While others felt honor and pride here, there was little more than stale emptiness clinging to the young paladin. The echoes of heavy footsteps cut through the dead air around her and, as she stepped across the threshold and out into the square, she let out the breath she had been holding. Her heavy sigh garnered the attention of the men posted on eitherside but she disregarded their curious gazes and continued forward. Ronae,dressed in her regalia much like the paladin herself, waited patiently as shealways had.
“Come,” she spoke softly on herapproach and reached for the reins. She took the russet straps thatrested on her withers and pulled them over her head, though there was littleneed for her to guide the mare. After several years working together, thecharger was not easily separated from her rider. As the two started down thestreet, Luccicare turned her attention to her pack, searching for a treat for hersteadfast companion. She wondered sometimes how the breeders would have reactedto her offering Ronae apples and other small delights so often.
Furrowing her brow, she removed herglove and pulled the bag in front of her. She began to dig inside of it whilethe mare guided her along the path. She pushed her journal to the side and heldonto a small, purple crystal, sifting through the loose pages and other oddsand ends before finding what he was looking for. “Here we are,” the paladinmurmured. She stopped off to the side for a moment as they entered the exchangeand took out a small red apple. Ronae quickly picked up on her intent, catchingsight of it, and Luccicare beamed as she watched the horse bob her head up anddown.
“Yeah?” the paladin chuckled, all senseof formality escaping her. She held up the fruit, offering it to the mare, andfollowing another shake, it was quickly snatched from her palm. She placed ahand under the plate on her neck and moved it down towards the withers,patiently waiting for her before starting off again. It was in that moment that she heard someone shout up ahead.
“Hm?” she blinked. She had onlyjust turned to follow the sound when a small figure slammed into her leg. Hereyes went wide as she looked down to see a young girl who could not have been morethan a six years of age clinging to her leg. She bit her bottom lip, staringdown at the curly blonde hair and small, wilted ears. Luccicare was notentirely sure what to do.
“Excuse me,” she finally spoke, reachinga hand down to pry her away. As she did so, however, something sharp and cold struckthe back of her hand. She yelped and drew back her hand once more, watching asa bit of ice crystallized over her skin. Her brow furrowed at the shrill soundof laughter and she looked up, narrowing her gaze. She had expected to see somebold, young mage standing before them but, instead, she was surprised to seesomething less familiar to the city.
A small, blue figure about the sizeof the young girl hopped about in front of them, pointing at the paladin andlaughing heartily. Much like a little child itself but certainly more dangerous,Luccicare gave a quiet snort off disapproval, easily recognizing the mischievoussprite-ling from her recent time in Pandaria. Such a nuisance was not easilyforgotten. The creature abruptly stopped its laughter and looked up at thepaladin. Perhaps who it had struck finally registered and it stared at her withlarge, luminescent eyes. Two more of the figures with frozen twigs held like swordsran up behind it and struck at the sprite as they passed before stopping just afew feet in front of her.
“Can you sit still for me?” sheasked, suddenly scooping up the girl and turned to set her on Ronae. The girllet out a little squeak of surprised and promptly clung to the saddle as thehorse shifted beneath her, her green eyes wide and anxious. She lookedstrikingly familiar, but still, she returned her attention to the threesprite-lings standing there. Her satisfied smile caused them to squeal in terrorand, as she reached out to snatch up the closest one, they fell backwards andscrambled away. She stumbled forward a few steps after them and was able tocatch the one on the far left. Just as soon as she did, however, the creaturereached back and clawed at her uncovered hand. She dropped it withouthesitation and looked down at the scratch. Where it normally would have scabbedover, the cuts froze instead.
“Alright,” she spoke while drawingher blade, not a moment of hesitation in her movements. She brought her sworddown over the creature and it shrieked once more but, much to her surprise, insteadof falling to a heap before them, it popped, much like a bubble would, leavinga small shower of snow in its wake. She blinked several times at this, unsurewhat to make of the situation at this point. She looked around, seeing more ofthe sprite-lings running around the exchange. Some chased one another whileothers chased those who had unwittingly walked into the situation and a fewplayed about the gardens, flash freezing the flowers. It was in that momentthat an idea struck her.
“Is your mother nearby?” sheinquired, looking back to the girl.
“I lost Ann’da,” the child replied,on the verge of tears at the thought. Luccicare frowned a bit and stepped intothe stirrup, scooping her up again and setting her on her lap once the paladinhad settled into the saddle. She kept her arms around her waist while the otherhand snatched up the reins. She gave a click of her tongue, watching as theears on the mare twitched in recognition, and pressed her boot heel into herside.
“Well, let’s go find him then,” shesmiled reassuringly as they started off. Ronae began at a trot and the threecut across the street. She directed Ronae towards one of the flowerbeds wherethree sprites were stacked on top of one another trying to reach for a cat upin the tree. She did not stop as they approached and, in fact, spurred her onfaster. The horse slammed into the three and with another round of squeals anda several pops, they disappeared into a cloud of snow. Much to the surprise ofthe paladin, the little girl began to laugh at this. She gave a soft grin andthey pressed on, racing over more and more of the sprites and causing a flurry ofsnow in their wake. As they came to the opposite end of the exchange, shestopped and turned her charger to face the center.
There had to have been several ofthe creatures, as their remnants left a thin blanket of snow over the area. Ronaemoved anxiously beneath her and she blinked in surprise, a snowflake falling infront of her face. She turned her gaze up to the sky. The little girl in herlap began to laugh and giggle, reaching out to grab at them. “What are they?”she asked as she leaned forward to grab one falling to their right. She slippedslightly and Luccicare promptly pulled her close once more, her arm placedfirmly around her waist.
“Snow, child,” she explained softly.
“I like snow,” the girl spoke,still wriggling in her arms. Luccicarenodded absentmindedly, looking around for some sign of the source. She knewthis was not normal but she could not place the source. Surely there was a magesomewhere working his magic. She blinked, realizing that she squirming hadstopped, and looked down at her arms. The girl was gone. She went wide eyed andspun around, her eyes scanning her surroundings once more for any signs of her.She lifted her leg and slipped out of the saddle to land on the ground with aheavy clatter. When she stood up straight again, Ronae was gone as well.
Luccicare suddenly began to panic.The entire exchange was empty, leaving nothing but the heavy snowfall aroundher. She started down the street with her eyes still searching for some sign ofthe cause but as her surroundings faded into white, a lightheaded sensationcame over her. She closed her eyes and brought a hand to her forehead. It wasmoments later that she realized she was laying down. She opened her eyes oncemore pushed herself up against the soft bedding and sat up straight.
“Was I…dreaming?” she blinked,looking around her room. She ran a hand through her hair and let out a heavysigh. Her shoulders fell and her hand fell into her lap. She looked down at herpalm and turned her hand over. There were no signs of a scratch or anything toindicate that she had experienced what she thought she had, “But it felt soreal.”
She placed a hand behind her andleaned into it, looking up at the canopy above her bed. She wondered whatexactly it had meant. A quiet giggle cut through her thoughts beside the paladin and shesnapped her attention to the side of the bed. She went wide eyed as she caughtsight of the little girl standing before her, glowing radiantly with a bright,gold aura. “Thank you, Minn’da!” she beamed brightly, waving to Luccicare. Thepaladin drew in a sharp breath, confused, and watched as the girl dissipatedbefore her. Left alone in the darkness, a pained look came over her in suddenrealization.
“Minn’da?” she echoed back, hervoice cracking as she spoke. She placed a hand over her chest and clutched thefabric over her chest. Her shoulders began to shake and for the first time in avery long time, she allowed herself to cry.
