A female humanoid figure was leaning against a pillar, staring peacefully as the sun emerged from behind the mountains, filling the world of light. She was a curvy example of her race, everything within her seemed to call out perfection, and yet, there was a note of sadness in her eyes and in the lower pose of her long, elvin, ears, as she moved her stare from the horizon to the place where she was living. An old fortress hidden deep, within the most treacherous forest that had ever existed. Sometimes, as it was that day, she almost felt trapped in there and yet, she and her husband had chose that life. They had chosen, so many centuries before, to live there, to sacrifice their love for the nature to live within that fortress of stone, in order to give a chance to many others who had suffered far more than they had.
"Zandaya?"
A male voice calls out from behind her and, as the female turns, she finds face to face with her mate, another elf, like her, who despite his lack of perfection in his appearance, for an elf, counterbalanced that with his cunning and his quick practical mind.
"Zandaya, my love, what troubles you?"
The elven woman turns toward her mate, hugging him fiercely, and so she remains for a few minutes, as she can feel his hands stroking her long white blonde hairs and her back, trying to console her from whatever ill thought had come to her.
"Laranui, I... I'm sorry. I felt it again this morning. The calling."
He forced a weak smile on his lips, as he knew exactly what she was referring to. The Calling, the wilds out there screaming at them to go and explore its secrets, to stare at its wonders. And yet, they stayed there within the fortress.
"It is I, who should be feeling ashamed. I forced you to live all of your life in this place. I thought we could learn to love this place, learn to fill our hearts with the love within these walls but... I was a fool."
"No, My love. What you proposed to me, so many years ago, was the best thing you could have ever thought upon. To think of all the little ones, left alone in the wilderness to fend off for themselves... You, my dear, have a great heart. And I fell in love with you, just for that."
After a shared kiss, the two lovebirds shared one smile and then prepared themselves for the long day ahead. For they are Zendaya and Laranui, Headmaster and Headmistress of the Hidden Orphanage, where youngs of all Nedea were taken care of and helped to grow until the day of their Choosing, when they would be given the choice of remain within the Orphanage and help, or leave for the outer world, to find their own destiny out there.
As the two elves left their private rooms, they separated, for Laranui was to go to the outer garden to help those few who had combat experience to train those who hadn't, while Zandaya had to go to the inner fortress to help feel at home the new arrivals within the orphanage.
As she walked calmly through the corridors, she met several of those who had previously chosen to stay and help, some worked as servants, as cooks, as teachers and even a few who were nothing but animators, to follow the youngest there and to keep them happy and serene. It was in this way that they were organized, Laranui would follow all those aspects of the Orphanage that required manual labor, from its defence, to the training of the older students, to the maintenance of the fortress. Zandaya, instead, would follow the management, the inner workings of their orphanage. The teachings, the cleaning and the well behavior of those who lived within.
As she entered the main hall, the view she had filled her heart of hope. For, within the hall, there were countless tables and, sitting at each, there were scores of younglings from all species and races of Nedea, all of them eating their breakfasts in serene peace. For the most part.
As she had entered, in fact, she noticed right away one of the teachers signaling her, moving closer to the woman she recalled immediately who she was. She had been one of the very few kids who had lived with her and Laranui back when the Orphanage had started. An elven woman herself, she was barely past the two hundred years old, which for an elf lifespan was considered as to be still in their teens.
"Miss Zandaya..."
"Faleriel...I've told you countless times to call me simply Zandaya...Doesn't matter. What seems to be the issue here?"
"Mi...Zandaya, it's one of the new kids. They're quite a...riotous bunch. I've tried to ask them gently but they don't seem willing to listen. They quickly cornered her and started insulting, I...I tried to stop them but..."
"Now, now..." calmly patting Falariel back, Zendaya began moving forward, toward the new group of guests of their orphanage. "Don't you worry, Falariel. I'll take care of this. Return to your duties..."
As Zendaya approached the loud mouthed youngs, she began to see what the issue was.
Kneeled in a corner, a young tiefling was sniffling and crying, while three younger kids covered her with insults and denigratory comments about her species. These were three that, had not been for the presence of the tiefling, would have been already at each other's throats, for they were a young dwarf, a human and a cave-elf.
The dwarf, despite his young age, already was showing some fierce muscles in his short body, and a few straddled hairs on his face: beside him there was a porcine looking human kid, big and towering, he was the loudest of the three as he seemed to find extremely amusing to insult someone older than him. The third one, was one that wasn't often seen in the present day. A cave-elf, also known as a Pale Elf, his species had been almost wiped out by the dwarves, ages before as the wars were raging, and yet, this particular kid seemed to prefer to have the dwarf as his friend, choosing to stand at his side.
Zendaya moved calmly but, without producing any sound, as only a trained elf war dancer could do, and yet when she was behind the three obnoxious children, towering them she winked to the tiefling letting her know that she wasn't alone. Standing tall, she turned her smiling, full of joy, expression to a stern one, as her eyes seemed to be glinting with ferocious rage toward the three that suddenly felt themselves shadowed by something. As they slowly turned they found themselves face to face with Zendaya, looking down at them as they were nothing but gnats to her.
"Do tell me, what do we have here? A short, half-legged dwarf, whose better use for his hairless head could be as a stool...dwarves don't think anyway, everyone knows that.
And you? Oh my... A human Boy. Aren't you big? Why, I bet you I shall need a through to keep you fed, and then leave you to wallow in mud... would you enjoy that? I heard you humans consider it a beauty treatment.
And you... aren't you one of those freakish white skinned horrors living underground? What are you doing here, in My domain?"
As the three kids began to be insulted by Zendaya, being shot at by countless attacks at their beings, at their species, one by one they all started to cry,and yet, as they found themselves bawling, they soon found that the same who had been insulting them so ferociously, was quickly upon them, caressing them and calming them down.
"Now, now... You see? It isn't fun to be bullied and insulted, is it? Now, you are all new here at the Orphanage but, I'm sure that you will learn that being disrespectful toward others is not acceptable.
Now, go, Miss Faleriel will give you the introduction to the Orphanage''.
As the three youngs, a bit surprised and shocked, went to the younger elven teacher, Zandaya kneeled in front of the tiefling, quietly caressing her face as she brushed the tears off her face.
"Little one, don't cry over this, everything will be different from now on.
Tell me, what is your name? I'm Zandaya."
"I'm...I'm Leusia..."
"Well, Leusia, your starting here may not have been one of happiness, but I assure you, it will be better from now on." The elvish woman, then, hugged briefly the little tiefling, letting then her go to meet with Falariel, as she then turned and stared at the three young troublemakers, as she noticed that, despite her warnings, they were still snickering within themselves, preparing without a doubt, another go at the tiefling, Leusia.
'I see that my warnings didn't work. I guess something more shall be required. Mh, I believe I could find a use for them, after all...The time for the Goddess festivities is coming in a few years so, having a few more offerings could be useful indeed.'
As the elven headmistress of the Orphanage stared at the three, she wondered which of them would have been a better offering to their Goddess.
'Well, Laranui and I have often been enough, as ethereal offerings... but a few more physical offerings will surely please her much more than what me and him could manage on our own. We do need more to sustain everyone here... Don't we?'
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author