New Town, New People

ooc;; sorry for the wait!

Winter was freezing in North Dakota. It wasn't like the cool, dry days back at home where white powder only fell on the sharp mountain peaks in the horizon at all, where the rain pattering down wasn't as warm and sticky as it was in the season full of sunshine and the blood, tears, and sweat of the hard-working employees in the rice fields. Someone had told her at the daycare that the weather was below negative temperature recently, which meant it was really cold, but the golden disk still hovered in the sky between the fluffy clouds, radiating a warmth that couldn't penetrate the atmosphere as well. But it was there, somewhere, even if she couldn't necessarily see it herself. Just like how the streets and lamp posts and buildings existed around her in the world, even if she couldn't imagine their appearance with her clouded eyes.

That hadn't stopped her from learning her way around the quaint, gentle town sitting on the edge of the academy's campus. A building was to her right, and up ahead was the arcade. If she continued for some more, she could reach the cafe or bakery. With the spare amount of change jingling in her pockets, Linh had considered for a few moments on maybe going to buy a snack. Pretty unlikely they would be selling mooncakes or another festive item, but the fact that Tết had passed two days ago, and she had done absolutely nothing to celebrate besides talk to her friend about it. The thought of missing a dragon dance and wearing an áo dài made her miss the days back in Vietnam, but America was better off than home, right?

This feeling of homesickness didn't leave her at all, and it was already approaching a year of being around Rosebury and the gifted school. She had told her friend to stay back at the daycare that day too, because she wanted to try something out. In the middle of the crossroads, she took a deep breath before clicking her tongue to the roof of her mouth.

... Nothing.

Her face contorted into a pout. "Did not work." She knew she read this in a book somewhere, that this kind of ability was special to those who couldn't see, like how dolphins could under the sea. Was it an actual gift or was she just stupid? Linh found herself more disappointed than anticipated, twiddling her thumbs as she resigned to sulk at the bakery with a batch of cupcakes or donuts.

Unfortunately for Fae, Linh hadn't taken heed of the girl calling for her in the sea of noise. The day was certainly cold, but in starch comparison of her own being having poor tolerance for the freezing weather, many of the residents had become well-accustomed to the bitter temperatures that made her tremble from head to toe. A motley of voices echoed back and forth, ranging from the most mundane of conversations about where to hang out for the afternoon or the tests that teachers had told students to prepare for ahead of time. Really, her English still wasn't good enough to catch the giant words that everyone used around, but it was enough to snatch the fluttering snippets in the air. Hearing the "hey!", she had thought it was meant for someone else and continued along without pausing in her steps.

Only a few feet away, a cat of white fur and gray-tipped paws and ears, as though they had been dipped in paint, mewed and had immediately caught the child's interest. "Ah, kitty!" All feelings of disappointment melted away like the snow would once the blooming flowers began their reign of the year, and she reached out to the animal, taking caution in walking towards it, only for it to bolt off, with a pitter-patter of paws seeping into the snow, never mind nearly jumping a foot or two. Impulsively, she ran after it, her mind focused on being able to find out how soft its fur was and the size of it with her hands, and the way it would purr when she stroked it in a specific area, and whether it had a collar and belonged to someone or if it was simply a stray, or --

Thud!

"O-ow..." When did that lamppost get there? Rubbing the top of her forehead with both hands, she winced from the searing pain, the winds doing little to cool down the swelling bump erupting at the surface.

The pain shot through her forehead, searing with unfathomable flames as a light trickle of scarlet set out on its predetermined path. Linh winced, pulling out a ragged handkerchief from her coat's pockets, a very tattered one where the color had dulled with a valley of ashes and stained with mismatched splotches. Carefully wiping the blood away from the top of her head, she focused the rest of her senses on pinpointing where the kitty had run off to. Maybe asking her friend to come along would've been a good idea after all; her friend would've been able to track that cat without any difficulties. Or maybe if she knew how to do that echolocation thingy mabob or whatever it was called. Her braille reading wasn't the best.

"Are you okay? That looked like it hurt."

A sudden voice had snuck up behind her, a chil running down her spine as she nearly leapt out of her own skin. One part of her mind directed her to hide the cloth wadded in between her fingers behind her back, abashed. Linh pieced together the three words the person had uttered - the stranger had a very pretty and gentle voice - with definitions in her native tongue before nodding feverishly. "Linh is okay, chị." Blinking a few times, she immediately realized she had said the wrong thing, her cheeks blooming red as she frantically waved her hands in front of her. "Not chị, but miss. Linh meant miss." In the midst of it, another slim vermilion stream cascaded, passing by her eye with minor hesitation.

She taut an eyebrow in confusion, unsure as to what could be causing the person in front of her to be stuttering, especially when the older girl seemed to be very fluent in English. In fact, everyone around the area and town spoke in the language with such ease, having heard it from the moment they were born to the current, living seconds ticking by. Linh only grimaced at the thought of heading back to the daycare so soon. It wasn't a bad place to be at, but she had made a bet with her friend that she could figure this out before the day was over; losing the next batch of Vietnamese sweets that the staff managed to get their hands on - whenever that would be - was something she didn't want to happen. Especially if it was bánh lưỡi mèo or chè... Immediately, she shook off her imagination before her mouth began to water, using the sleeve of her coat to wipe her lips.

Too many confusing words that sounded big. Collie-son and mast-ee? Massly? Mass was some sort of measurement thingy while a collie was a kind of puppy, and son was... the boy child of any parents? So it had to look like one heavy puppy that she did. That doesn't sound right, Linh thought, trying to keep her thoughts within an English mindset. At the very least, she did understand one part. "Uhm, Linh don't want to go home yet." Besides, her real home was oceans away. It was impossible, and her parents wouldn't want her to come back when she was more fortunate in America. Her ears wouldn't stop ringing with this annoying bell, and she held her hands up to her ears in attempts to block it out, to no avail.

For a few moments, she had considered throwing a fake tantrum to get what she wanted, but mother and father had always yelled at her when that happened and got mad because it wasn't nice to do those sort of things to get what she wanted. So, instead, Linh's cheeks puffed up, her hands balling into fists before she resigned to a pout. "It's not that bad," she insisted, holding firm on the position she had conjured up. "Don't hurt at all--" And just as she said that, her hand shot up to her forehead, clutching it as another stab of pain rushed through. It shouldn't hurt that much at all, it really shouldn't. She didn't run into the lamp post - as embarrassing as it was to admit to herself - that hard, did she?

Okay, so maybe she was hurt a little bit. Just a little bit. Shaking her head again, as thought that would do anything to alleviate the pain, Linh brought her blood-stained hand down, trying to force a smile but finding herself being unable to. This kind of pain really should be nothing compared to what others have been through. All she had to do was tough it out. That was really it. Just, put on a brave face and it'll turn out okay. Sounded simple enough, didn't it?

Striking the deal did exactly what Fae had intended - it tempted her, and Linh found her negative emotions washing away as though they were never there in the first place. Eagerly nodding with a thousand-watt grin overwhelming her features, she would prefer to get it over with and then head out as soon as possible to find the kitten again. From the sound of the mew, it was the one that wandered by the daycare every once in awhile, sticking by the playground set and coming by for free food whenever children were outside and playing. She wanted to pet it again... For a few moments, she could tell that the older girl was holding her hand out, but Linh wasn't quite sure where.

After raising her own hand up to aimlessly search the air, she managed to grasp her fingers around Fae's before the thought occurred to her. "Uhm, miss?" she quietly started, a little hesitant at first, as though she wasn't sure whether it was her place to speak. "Do you know the daycare?"

Stuffing her handkerchief into her pocket, now that it didn't seem to be a really big focus, Linh's eyes wandered about in no particular direction. Which part of town where they in again? She hadn't been paying enough attention and feeling around for landmarks was a pretty bad idea. Her friend would've definitely been super duper helpful here since she didn't really remember her way around. Maybe chasing after cats in the middle of nowhere wasn't the best choice in the world...

... But admitting that she didn't know where she was going wasn't something she wanted to do either. "Uhm, Linh know the way." Not really. If she could just figure out where they were in town, then it shouldn't be too bad, right? And so, she led the way, dragging the older girl with her in the direction she had dashed off from in the first place. Her parents always told her that if she was lost, back-tracking was best. And if she got super lost, making a mark somewhere to tell her that she had already been there was a smart choice too. Adventurers did that a lot.

With a quick whiff of air, the pleasant aroma with delicacies from the bakery hit her senses, and Linh realized she hadn't exactly bought the snacks she had come out for in the first place. Pausing in the middle of the sidewalk, her gaze rested on the bakery longingly, one hand stuffing itself back into her pockets to jingle the loose change inside. It's still there. Maybe a quick pit stop wouldn't be too bad? "Can we stop here, miss?"

(I hope its still okay to respond even though it took me a month to get a full break from the torrents of life to respond. Ill try to not let it happen again. Appologies.)


Fae followed after the girl, wandering after her with little idea if she would even be able to find her way back. That was the least of her worries in the moment at least. She did her best to make mental notes of the few places she saw, hoping to connect them and begin to create a map in her mind of the small town. She had to admit, that the town was quite lovely. It was small and quaint in some ways, it was comfortable. A small part of Fae grew excited about her new life in this new town.

Yet, as they came to a stop, Fae was dragged from her thoughts. She felt the sweet aroma of the bakery drift over towards her, and could almost imagine its dainty scent crossing her nose in an alluring way, trying to pull her into the heavenly black hole of the bakery. Fae could not deny that she was a sucker for sweets, and if she took one step into any place that sold food with any sort of sugar in it, she would turn into a shopaholic. She bit her lip and shook her head, "no, we need to get you back first, maybe we can come back after alright?" She hoped that the girl would go with it, she didn't need her unwilling attitude to make her decision any more difficult then it had already been.