The End of a Long Slumber (Closed)

“Mmmm,” a small figure stirred within the attic of an old, seemingly abandoned house. Mayu, a childlike android created by the late inventor, Amano, had finally awoken from her deep slumber. She had no idea exactly how long she had been sleeping, but the room was covered in a thick layer of dust, including herself.

Creeping out of the house she once shared with Papa, Mayu gazed around at the village that used to be filled with people. All of the houses were in just as much disrepair as the one she used to live in. It looked like nobody had lived here for quite some time. The timid little girl lightly bit her lip. How long had she been out of it? What the girl didn’t know was that it had been nearly 500 years since she had last been active.

Papa had always warned her about their fellow villagers. He told her that they didn’t understand how special she was, and that they would try to take her away from him if they ever got the chance. In a way it didn’t seem like a bad thing that they were all gone now. Still, she didn’t like the feeling of emptiness she was getting from the sight of the abandoned community. With no reason to stick around, Mayu began to wander into the world. She was scared. She had never been away from the village before. Not only that, but Mayu had always had Papa here to tell her it was okay or tell her what she should do. Not this time though. She was completely on her own for this one.

---

How long had she been walking? Mayu had no idea, but she found herself surrounded by bamboo on some sort of mountain. The air was filled with the sounds of various animals and a flowing stream that sounded like it was nearby. It sounded peaceful. Still, the strange feeling of emptiness hadn’t left the small android. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. Was it because Papa was gone? Maybe, but it hadn’t felt anything like this before she had gone to sleep. Was it because all of the villagers were gone? It couldn’t have been; not with the things that Papa had told her about them. Besides, they had always given her weird looks whenever she would leave the house to go on walks with Papa. There was no way that their absence could be the reason.

Mayu came to a stop as she reached the edge of the stream she had been hearing. The little android girl peered into the water to get a look at her reflection. “That’s funny… I don’t look any different. So what’s wrong with me?” Mayu mumbled to herself in confusion. Still stumped and out of ideas, she decided to plop herself down next to the stream and take a break from walking. Maybe it would do her some good to just relax and take in the scenery for now.

[502]

He had been walking for quite some time, enjoying the scenery. Every now and then, Rain liked to stop by this old ghost town in the middle of nowhere. It was a quiet place where he could relax and enjoy himself. And so, here he ofund himself, wandering through the streets once again. Everything was exactly as it should be- no one lese but him really knew it was here. So on and on he walked, before eventually finding a stream.

Tired, he lay down under a tree next to it in the shade, and swiftly fell asleep. It would be a few hours before he awoke to see a small child peering at herself in the water. Curious, he watched her, before slowly standing up, brushing the dirt off of him as he did so.

"Hello there, little one!" He would call out, a smile on his face as hir eyes curved closed in a smile, "Are you lost?"

"Hmm?" Mayu looked up to see a tall, blonde man standing across the river. She jumped back in surprise. She could have sworn she had been alone. Apparently not, as the stranger watched her from the other side of the river. Now what? She wanted to run away, but her legs refused to move. Was it because she had been sleeping for so long, or was it because she was absolutely terrified of people she didn't know? Whatever the reason, all the child could do was stand there and tremble.

"Um, err..." she squeaked. Well, she might as well try to answer this guy since she obviously wasn't going anywhere. "N-no. I'm not lost." It wasn't really a lie. Sure she didn't know where she was. To be lost, you actually had to be going somewhere though, right? Mayu had just kind of been wandering with nowhere she was trying to get to. Maybe he would see that she was telling the truth and go about his business. she was still hoping that her legs would start cooperating though, just in case he decided to push further.

[187]

Rain cocked his head to the side when the little girl said she wasn't lost. A ffrown marred his kind face asa he peered intently at her. Crossing his arms, he sat back down on the forest floor, crossing his legs indiant style for more comfort.

"Where are your parents then? There aren't any safe places around here for leagues!"

Rain was a bit worried for the child. As far as he was concerned, any random bear or giant bird or dinosaur could easily turn her into a snack.

Mayu fell silent when she was asked about her parents. Papa had passed away shortly before she went to sleep. Was it really a good idea to be talking about it? He might not end up leaving her alone if he knew. The android didn’t really know what else to say though. Besides, Papa had always told her to tell the truth. He would scold her if he thought she was fibbing. “Papa isn’t here anymore,” she finally said in a quiet voice. It was short and to the point.

The man’s comment made her raise an eyebrow. What did he mean? She had walked here all the way from her old village. Not a single dangerous thing had popped out at her so far. It seemed pretty safe to her. Maybe there was something about this place that she didn’t know about. Was it because of the bad people Papa was always talking about? “Umm, i-is this place r-r-really not safe?” she finally piped up.

[166]

Rain would nod his head, "Mmhmm," he stated, gazing at the "child" before him worridly. If her parents were gone... how long had she been here?

"No one's been around here for hundreds of years..." Rain would say, sad to know that this area would never be used by people again, but happy that nature had it's own land as well.

"How did you get here, Little One? What about your mother?" He would cross his arm across his leg as he leaned back, keeping himself proped up on the grassy floor by his other arm.

Mayu’s eyes widened at the blonde man’s comment. Had she heard him correctly?! “D-Did you say h-h-hundreds?!” She knew she had been sleeping for a while. Originally she had guessed maybe sixty years, perhaps even up to seventy five. Hundreds though?! The small android never would have guessed that it had been that long since she had last been active. Not only that, but he had said that it had been hundreds of years since anybody had lived at the village. Who knows how long they had been there after she had actually fallen asleep?!

It was only when the blonde man spoke to her again that Mayu snapped out of her thoughts. She had almost forgotten he had been sitting there after she went into thought about this new revelation. It looked like he was still intent on asking her more questions. “My mother? I don’t have one,” Mayu responded matter-of-factly. She didn’t look torn up about it in the slightest. “Also, I walked here. It wasn’t that far.”

A bit of Mayu’s initial fear of this man appeared to have melted away. Maybe it had something to do with the realization that she had been sleeping longer than she had thought. Whatever the reason, she didn’t see any reason to try to run away anymore. It’s not like the child had anything better to do. She would still be cautious around him, but for now she didn’t mind sticking around.

[242]

Rain was very puzzled. This was odd... very odd indeed! She asked him if he had said what she thought he said... If she was around here, she would know. He narrowed his eyes slightly. Come to think of it, there was something off about her skin...

"Yes Little One, hundreds."

And then there was the matter about her having no mother. Her dad... wasn't around, she never had a mother. She didn't seem all that bothered by it either. And she walked here, if it wasn't that far, she obviously came from the village. The village had been abandoned for oh so long, and Rain KNEW there were no people living here. He was suspicious, but she WAS just a little girl.

"My name is Rain Edge, I'm a King of a city waaay down away from here. I walk here a lot to enjoy the pretty lands. I've never seen anyone else here, though. Did you come from the village?" Rain had pulled himself up so his legs were slanted in front of him, his arms wrapped around them.

Mayu took a deep breath and sighed. She still couldn’t believe that she had been sleeping for such a long time. She made a mental note to never shut down without setting a timer to wake her up ever again. She may have been alright now, but the thought of staying inactive for so long a second time was oddly scary.

Mayu stared in disbelief at the man as he introduced himself. Wait a second… He was a king?! The child eyed him suspiciously. He didn’t look anything like the kings in the story books that she used to read with Papa. Where was his shiny gold crown? What about his royal flowing robes or his noble steed? There weren’t any crowds of followers, servants, or knights either. The kings from the stories she had read never went far from their castles, let alone without any knights. Nope. This guy didn’t have any of those things. Still, he did introduce himself. It would be rude not to do the same. For now Mayu would just shrug it off as something that had changed while she was sleeping.

“N-Nice to meet you Y-Your Highness,” Mayu replied with a somewhat shaky curtsy. She wasn’t sure if this was still the right way to act if front of a king, but all she had to go off at this point were her old story books. “I’m M-Mayu. I used to live in this village with Papa.” It felt so odd to say that she ‘used’ to live here. Hundreds of years may have passed, but it only felt like a couple of days to the small girl.

[274]

The young king couldn't help but chuckle at the girl. "Nood need to curtsy," he would say,holding up a hand, "I'm not into all that fanfair like most royalty I know." His hand came to the top of his head sheepishly to scratch at the bakc of it, but then he realized his crown had fallen off. "Eh!?" he startled, panicing slightly, "Where's it go?" Looking around him, he saw it settled in some leaves under the tree.Reahing over, he picked up his crown, and placed it on his head, the golden sheen reflecting off the water, making the plain crown sparkle.

"How old are you...?" Rain asked, wondering how she could have lived there a short time ago, when no one has lived there for so long...

“Oh… Um, okay,” Mayu mumbled sheepishly. Nope, definitely not like any of the kings from her stories at all. From the way he was talking, it sounded like kings weren’t as different as the ones she had read about so long ago. He was just an anomaly. Oh well, at least he found his crown.

Mayu paused when she was asked about her age. That was a good question. Now that she thought about it, not even she knew the answer to that anymore. The small android may have been built to look and behave like she was nine years old, but that was nowhere near how old she really was. She bit her lip as she tried to come up with an answer. However, when it all came down to it she simply hadn’t the slightest idea. “I-I don’t know how old I am,” the child replied with a voice full of uncertainty. Her eyes dropped to the ground, and she started shuffling her feet.

[166]

Understanding entered the eyes of the King as he nodded his head slightly, "I see." Either she didn't trust him, or she honestly didn't know. Either solution was likely. Standing up, the man brushed the dirst from his behind, and fluffed his cloack a bit.

"So... If your parents are gone, how will you take care of yourself? You can't live alone after all." Rain asked, his arms folding across his powerful chest. He was worried for the little girl.

In the distance, there were some odd explosions, by the tundra in this side of the Map. Rain's eyes became wide as he witnessed such a thing. "No one lives over there..."He muttered to himself, his hand falling on his sword, "Maya, go hide. I'm going to go invesitgate." Rain's voice was solid, commanding, and unwavering. He spoke as if he were used to being obayed as he took off, running at speeds most humans wished they could run at, making his way to where whatever was going on was at. He needed to make sure there was no threat.

((Sparring partner for your alt?))

The child took a couple of steps back as Rain Edge finally stood up. The new height difference between them was sort of intimidating. Then again, Mayu had never seen anyone that was as short as her aside from the village children that she had sometimes watched from the window. Even then, they had always grown up pretty quickly. “I-I’ll be okay,” Mayu insisted.

“Eep!” Mayu squealed in surprise as she also heard the distant explosion. She couldn’t see exactly where it was since the surrounding mountains were blocking it out. Also, it sounded pretty far away. She didn’t have a trained enough ear to tell what direction it had been in. The child watched Rain Edge run off after commanding her to go hide somewhere. “It’s Mayu…” she corrected him under her breath, fully aware that he was much too far away to hear her. Oh well, maybe she would just go back to her old house. There was plenty of cleaning to be done there. She was sure Papa’s grave could use some tending too.

[177]

((Sure. I need to clarify something. The only reason I posted her training post on the Mount Paozu board was because there was nowhere else to put it. It wouldn’t actually be happening anywhere near here, but I guess it could be happening in the same mountain range, just way to the North. You wouldn’t be able to see the mountain she was training on crumbling from here, but the explosion would be loud enough to pick up on.))

((Ah, I see. Alrighty then. I'm too lazy to edit my post a bit, as then you'd have to edit, so I'll just head over there. For a strong human, that won't be much, even traveling by foot.

Once again, after about an hour total, Rain had returned to this spot. Looking out around him, he saw nobody, nor did he see any signs of the girl still being here. So, he ran to the town instead.

Once he got there, he look a look around, calling out, with his hands to his face to amplify his voice, "Mayu? Maaaayuuuu? Are you there?" He started walking through the empty town, and was currently walking through the old rsidential area of the place.. There, he saw the girl. "Hello!" he exclaimed brightly, before realising she was tending to a grave by her home. Frowning softly, he realized that must be her Papa. "Would you like help?" he asked hesitantly. It would take less than the time he needed to get back, at least.

After Rain had left, Mayu had decided to busy herself with making the house that she once shared with Papa more presentable. Papa may have died long ago and the villagers may have been long gone, but the old house was all Mayu had left at this point. It seemed like the right thing to do to tidy the place up.

The small android had decided to start with Papa’s grave in the front yard. It had been so long since she had buried him there that the flowers she had planted had died off and it was covered in weeds. She had her work cut out for her. Mayu didn’t mind though. After all, it was for Papa! That was reason enough for her to do anything.

About an hour had passed since she started, but Mayu had completely lost track of time. Doing a menial chore such as this had taken her back to when she would do household chores for Papa on a regular basis. It was calming. It might have even been a bit too calming, as Mayu didn’t even notice that Rain had come back. Until he was standing behind her and had asked if she wanted any help.

”Eep!” Mayu jumped at the sudden noise and quickly spun around to face Rain. She hadn’t expected him to be back so quickly. The android hadn’t even gotten a chance to start on the inside of the house. ”No, I-I think I’ve got it, she said while looking back at the grave. Just about all of the weeds were gone, so really all she had left to do was plant some new flowers. She wanted to do that part on her own to make sure she picked Papa’s favorites.

”So what was the noise about?” Mayu asked curiously.

[302]

With a soft smile, Rain nodded his head. He understood her need to do this alone. Speaking up, he answered her question, "Nothing really. Just someone training for some reason. I'll be heading out to help them out now as well. I just wanted to let you know not to worry, Mayu." Rain stated, unfolding his arms, before waving goodbye. "I must be off now, though! Take care, little one!" And with that, he was gone again.

”Oh… Umm, okay?” Mayu stated blankly as she watched Rain run off again. She still wasn’t exactly sure what was going on, but she didn’t think it mattered too much. She was okay as long as there wasn’t any trouble around here. Now that Rain was gone again, the small android girl decided that now would be a good time to start working on the inside of the house. She would find some pretty flowers for the grave later. With a shrug of her shoulders, she moved over to the front door of her home and disappeared inside.

[Thread closed]