Information

Rainbow has a minion!

Aneira the Golden Chirrup

Rainbow
Legacy Name: Rainbow

The

Spectrum Montre
Owner:

angie

Age: 13 years, 7 months, 3 weeks

Born: September 3rd, 2010

Adopted: 12 years, 5 days ago

Adopted: April 21st, 2012

Statistics

Level: 205
Strength: 506
Defense: 526
Speed: 517
Health: 523
HP: 523/523
Intelligence: 155
Books Read: 154
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Corporate Associate

Spoiler (click here to toggle)

Cora shivered slightly to herself as she pulled the cuffs of her sweater down in an attempt to stave off the cold feeling of dread welling up in her stomach. Her mum had warned her countless times not to play in the murky woods upon the moor; in fact, the mere mention of such a notion was enough to cast a dark shadow over her mum's face. "Many Scottish children have been known to get lost -- never to be seen again," she scolded, her finger shaking disapprovingly in Cora's direction. "You must stay away at all costs." All the same, Cora hadn't had the good sense to listen to such warnings, and now she was lost among the trees, looming giants that grew more menacing with every passing minute. I'm hopelessly lost, Cora sighed to herself before sitting down upon a mossy rock that she had passed at least three times already. Dejected and disheartened, Cora was just about to place her head in her hands, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something perplexing.

It was a rainbow.

Not just any rainbow, mind you. This rainbow seemed brighter and more vibrant than others Cora had seen in the past -- it glittered through the gaps between the leaves of the trees, gleaming and shimmering in an iridescent dance of light. To Cora, the rainbow seemed nearly tangible; she almost felt as if she would be able to simply reach out and touch it to soothe the feelings of solitude and loneliness building up inside her. The sight of the rainbow gave her hope, and without fully realizing or registering what she was doing, Cora stood up and began to follow it, brushing aside any stray twigs and branches that got in her way.

It wasn't long before Cora's clothes were disheveled and streaked with dirt, but it was of no real importance to her. Following the rainbow was first and foremost in her mind -- the rainbow brought a peaceful sort of calm to her that she hadn't felt in a long time, even before she had gotten lost. Oddly enough, this rainbow hadn't shifted at all when Cora walked; it was not simply an illusion or a trick of the light, but instead, something that was very firmly there. The rainbow thinned (as did the trees) after about a mile or so of trekking through the dense underbrush, and Cora found herself stumbling into a small, secluded glade, framed by dozens of trees and bushes. Dappled sunlight sparkled and danced across the forest floor as she attempted to take in the setting around her. Tree boughs bent towards each other in tender embraces; the sky was a rich, azure blue, dotted with a handful of white, puffy clouds; and a large boulder that was big enough to sit on stood in the center of the glade, surrounded by blossoming wildflowers. The entire glen was luminous, resplendent, vibrating with light and with life.

Cora's eyes, however, were fixated upon the boulder. Or to be more precise, on what was perched atop the boulder. Even though it (whatever it was precisely, Cora did not know, for it was humanoid in appearance, but Cora knew intuitively that it was not human in any sense of the word) was halfway across the clearing, it seemed to sense that Cora was there and turned its body to face her. And in mere seconds (in fact, Cora would have sworn that it was simply during the blink of an eye), it was standing in front of her.

Cora nearly gasped, for she had heard stories about a mythical race of creatures, but she had always assumed that they were just that -- stories. They were tales meant to send you to sleep and inspire fanciful dreams, but nothing more than that, for they were simply fairy tales. Until now. For the thing standing in front of her was indisputably an elf. She had long, red locks that seemed almost ablaze in the sun, along with cream-colored skin, completely unblemished, save a small smattering of freckles dusting her cheeks. Everything about her seemed carved out of porcelain -- her delicate nose and cheekbones were sharp enough to cut glass, and her ears tapered to a fine point instead of curving like those of a human's. Even her shoulder blades seemed graceful, jutting out from the small of her back, almost like a swan's wings taking flight. But by far, the most remarkable thing about the elf was her eyes. Her eyes were slanted and narrow, but the corneas of them were a brilliant blue -- or were they? For Cora could have sworn that they were blue, but upon closer examination they appeared to be green... wait, brown. Was that purple? Cora realized with a small jolt that the elf's eyes were ever-changing, dynamic in appearance.

"Hello. I am Rainbow." The elf gestured to herself, her eyes flashing a brilliant electric blue. Her voice was lyrical and honey-like; it contained traces of an accent that Cora didn't recognize, as well as a bit of a musical lilt.

Cora blurted out, "I like rainbows -- one brought me here," before she could stop herself. She quickly dropped her eyes to the ground, embarrassed by her outburst.

She needn't have been concerned, however. The elf did not seem surprised or irritated by her exclamation. On the contrary, Rainbow's eyebrows lifted slightly as she let out a peal of laughter, revealing a set of perfectly white teeth. "Did one, now? What a coincidence..."

Before long, Cora found herself sitting cross-legged upon the grass, facing Rainbow, who was sitting not too far from her. They talked, and they joked, and they laughed, and before she knew or even realized it, Cora was ensnared and entrapped, unknowingly wrapped into a devious web of trickery and deceit. Cora was fascinated with Rainbow, for she had never seen the like of her before. She implicitly felt that Rainbow was an absolute good and trusted her completely within mere moments. It helped that Rainbow's glamour was more powerful than that of most other elves; it didn't take much time or effort before Cora was persuaded to tell Rainbow about her lot in life.

She told Rainbow about how her baby brother had only been alive for only a few minutes before he was pronounced dead by the midwife, moments after his birth. She told Rainbow about how this had destroyed her family, how her mum had spent nights crying into her pillow when she thought everyone else had already fallen asleep, how she spent more time at the local pub than at her own home, how she hadn't been able to hold down a job for more than a couple of months at a time. She told Rainbow about how her dad was a mean, shrewd man, how he had beaten her mum long before her baby brother had come along, how only her mum's pregnancy saved her from his fists, how after her baby brother had died, the fists doubled in fury because it was obviously her mum's fault that he was dead. She told Rainbow about how sometimes the fists would be turned upon her, for the oddest and most arbitrary reasons -- perhaps that day she hadn't eaten her sprouts or had forgotten to empty the trash. And just when Cora's voice was raw with emotion, and she thought that she could no longer bear telling Rainbow about the pain and misery in her own life, Rainbow spoke.

"How would you like to come live with me?"

The words floated in the air like the soft peals of a bell; it took a while for Cora to truly register the magnitude of what she had just been offered. Cora stared blankly at Rainbow before a smile slowly spread across the former's face. Her smile felt rusty and out of practice; a large part of her felt relieved, joyous even, that perhaps she would be able to leave her desperate plight. However, only moments later, Cora's brows furrowed together as guilt and the implications of what she was about to do struck her. What would become of her family?

"I can't come with you," Cora whispered, pressing her hand against the mossy bark of a nearby tree. "My mum needs me, and I can't just leave my family...my entire life behind."

Rainbow bent down so her face was level with the child's. "Cora, please don't worry about your family. I will make sure they're taken care of when you leave. I can give you chances and opportunities you've only dreamed about. You won't have to worry anymore -- about anything."

"Do you promise you'll help my mum?" Cora's voice wavered as her lower lip began to tremble. She wasn't quite sure what would happen to her mum without her, for lately, it seemed as if she was slipping away, her eyes glassier and more unfocused than usual.

Rainbow paused for a moment before answering. "Yes, child," she nodded to Cora, eyes guarded. In all reality, Rainbow couldn't guarantee such a thing, but there was no reason why Cora needed to know that. At that moment, another elf was bringing a changeling to Cora's home. Elven changelings had glamours more powerful than that of most elven adults, and thus, Rainbow was certain that nobody would really notice the difference between the changeling and the human child it was supposed to represent. It was perhaps a sad idea in theory, that neither of Cora's parents would realize their daughter had gone missing, replaced instead by something not quite human, but the idea didn't weigh too heavily on Rainbow's conscience. After all, Rainbow was offering Cora a life that most children could only dare to dream of.

Only mere moments had passed, but the atmosphere had shifted slightly. An unspoken tension stretched between the two bodies, manifesting itself mostly in Rainbow's mannerisms -- a small vein in the elf's neck had become taut and rigid beneath her alabaster skin. Cora hadn't noticed, and with her lower lip still trembling, she offered Rainbow a small, tear-stained smile. In a voice that was barely audible, Cora stammered out, "I...I guess I could m-maybe come with you."

Rainbow smiled down at the child in response, all traces of tension evaporating. "Close your eyes and count to ten. Once you reach ten, you may open your eyes," she instructed, offering a delicate hand to Cora. The cool air surrounding the two began to glisten slightly, as if anticipating what was about to happen. Hesitantly, Cora obeyed the elf and began counting, her voice small and methodical. As the ten slipped past her lips, Cora slowly opened her eyes while exhaling loudly, her lashes dotted with tears. She stood there, dumbfounded and at a loss for words, as she attempted to take in what was in front of her.

It was a hole made of light. A paradox, really, thought Cora to herself, for she had always associated holes with darkness and scary things. But this one was different, in a way that was really quite odd. The landscape around the hole seemed to shimmer, folding and waving as if it was not entirely solid. It was quite clear to Cora what the hole was there for, but she still looked doubtfully at Rainbow, who was still standing by the little girl's side. Rainbow simply nodded reassuringly at her. "I'll be right behind you," she said soothingly as she gestured towards the hole.

And so, with nothing more than a small whoosh of wind, the real Cora Thomson stepped through the hole of light, never to be seen nor heard from in Scotland again.

Thanks to User not found: iii for letting me adopt! c: