Annihilate

burn everything you love then burn the ashes

Anni cocked her head at Gryffen’s off-hand comment about male in the jungle, genuinely baffled.  “There’s a place where boys aren’t allowed?  That’s stupid.  Some of the best people are boys.”  She pinned her ears, annoyed at the idea that somewhere she lived might keep her daddy and her uncles away just because they were male.  “I don’t wanna go there if they won’t let my daddy in.”  

The only people she’d really met so far were family, and the politics of a kingdom they didn’t really belong to hadn’t exactly been high on the list of things to talk about, so Anni genuinely had no idea they were talking about her birthplace.  And as fun as the yes-and game was, it was getting a little too big for her to keep track of.  “And ‘course I spend a lot of time with them, why wouldn’t I?  They’re family, and family’s the most important thing in the world.”

Oh.  Oh, but the Chamber sounded fascinating.  A tree on fire?  Whenever she wanted?  She was probably good at presents, though what kind of presents a tree would like, she had absolutely no idea.  And a land with a heartbeat?  If nothing else that at least sounded fun.  She’d have to tell Mauly all about it, and maybe they could go visit.  Maybe Momma and Daddy would take them!  Ohhh, that would be fun!

Auntie Nova actually did a relatively decent job of riding out Anni’s fury.  And it would have all been fine, except Anni didn’t actually know either of the people who wanted to accompany her to some mysterious boy-free jungle that must not be her jungle because half her family was males.  And even if it were, she wasn’t supposed to go anywhere with strangers.  Granted, she wasn’t supposed to go anywhere on her own either, but she sure as hell wasn’t supposed to let strangers take her anywhere.  That was Daddy’s biggest rule.  Well, that and ‘stay the fuck away from magicians.’  But at least as far as she knew, neither of the strangers she was with were magicians.

Come to think of it, she had no idea how to identify a magician.  She’d have to have another talk with Daddy when she got home.  Which there two were absolutely not going to be helping her find.  “Nnnno,” she said, less steel in her tone this time because she wasn’t angry or offended.  Unfortunately, she also wasn’t exactly sure how she was going to get out of this without breaking the game.  “I’m not going home right now, I’m on my way to…the playground!”  Her eyes lit up, and her little tail wiggled with enthusiasm.  “That will keep me warm, too, because running.  So thank you for your offer, but no.  I’m not going home ‘til after the playground, and I can find my way there by myself, thank you.”  

Well, that was probably a lie.  She actually had no idea where any such place was, only she had heard Grandma mention it once.  For that matter, she wasn’t actually sure how to get home from here either.  Oops.  And come to think of it, she was getting hungry.  She glanced around surreptitiously, checking to see if maybe she’d been found yet.  But there was no sign of any of her many family members anywhere, unless Uncle Nish was being especially sneaky.  Which seemed unlikely.  Well, hell.

“It was nice to meet you, though!  Gryffen, that is,” she added, with a winning smile in his direction.  “And lovely to see you again, Auntie Nova,” she added with an affectionate bump of her nose against the stranger’s shoulder.  “I…think I’ll be going now.”  Not that she had any idea where to go.

((OOC: Oh, don’t worry, I don’t expect this to be the end of the thread. XD She just realized she’s in a little over her head is all.))

Gendry and Arrya's
boom baby