Through Child's Eyes

[Heyrina Tankreyd]

Purple and red butterflies surrounded the bushes in front of which Heyrina was sitting, playing with some toys. The little girl loved being outside and the first time her nanny had taken her to the beautiful gardens of the AlGray estate after she had been placed with them when one year old, it had become the first true happy memory she had made. The young child had few recollections of what had happened before that, but every once in a while she had nightmares and brief spurs of the past haunting her, though she couldn't explain them.

"Seven.... eight... nine... ten... Ele... Ele..." She frowned as she always had a hart time remembering the number after ten. She easily became angry with herself but Lady Liana who watched over her at all times, chimed in. "Eleven." The blonde child looked at her caregiver and her expression softened a bit. "Eleven. Thank you!"

She returned her attention to the butterflies for a while longer, before picking up her toys again. She had a passion for anything technological and she loved putting things apart and rebuilding them, so she could understand how things worked. They were mosty simple objects for the moment, but she couldn't wait for when she'd be able to do more complex tasks.

[Heyrina Tankreyd]

One of Heyrina's favorite toy was a mechanical wampa that she had broken the first time around because she had wanted to understand how it was built. How much she had cried when it had fallen apart and she couldn't get it to be whole again. It was one of the mechanics of the palace, who had many children himself, who had made it easier for the little girl to play with it and understand its pieces. Since then, the little girl loved playing with it even more. She did love softer toys like plushes and some dolls at times, but except for sleep time when she needed her favorite stuffed animals, she liked toys whose inner workings she could learn to understand.

From the corner of her eye, she saw one of the ladies working at the palace walk holding her young son by the hand. Heyrina stopped what she was doing and watched mother and child interact for a while. She knew it was different from what she had. She liked her guardian whenever she got to see her, and her caregiver was good to her, but it wasn't "family", not like she understood it to be from stories.

There was a sudden loud noise coming from somewhere in the gardens. Heyrina opened her mouth to scream but no sound escaped her lips. She rushed to hide behind the bench, not caring if it was nothing. She had been terrified of loud noises since as far as she could remember. She hated them.

[Heyrina Tankreyd]

When Heyrina closed her eyes, time stood still and she saw someone she didn't know. She had seen this tall woman before in her dreams, but she had no idea who she was. The lady looked fierce but also very sad. There was something familiar about her, but Heyrina couldn't put her finger on it. She had never mentioned her to anyone. She didn't think her caregiver or her guardian would approve of too much curiosity. It seemed that her inquisitive nature was appropriate but to a certain degree. She also liked not sharing this special lady with anyone. She just wanted to know who she was. Maybe one day she'd see her outside of her dreams or brief flashes like right now because of the loud noise.

"Heyrina, don't hide behind the bench. It's alright."

The little girl looked up to her caregiver and didn't realize she had teary eyes. she wiped the tears away and forced herself up. Her caregiver was patient but she still seemed annoyed with all the dust on her dress, because of the dirt her outfit had gathered. Heyrina had curled up onto the ground behind the bench.

"Sorry." She muttered before returning to her toys, picking them up and heading to a sunny spot by the nearby fountain.

[Heyrina Tankreyd]

A few months later.

Heyrina blew the five candles on the small ornate cake that celebrated her birthday. There was only her guardian, Lady Piara, and her instructor, Lady Choi, present. Lady Algray had sent presents and Heyrina couldn't wait to open them.

She smiled a little shyly when the two adult women clapped in support. She was more eager to open her present than with eating her cake. It was delicious, but her appetite was hit and miss these days. She could be ravenous because of growth spurs, but she could also be nauseous when scared. She had heard Lady Piara complain about her. She wasn't skittish, but there were weird things happening sometimes.

Since that time she had seen that lady in the gardens, she thought she had seen her again, but the child had never been able to make anything out of the scary visions or dreams she had. It wasn't all the time, but she either remarked them more lately or they were just more numerous.

She reached out to the first of the two boxes that were awaiting her. The first one had a few new outfits, appropriate for a Hapan child. She preferred practical clothing, but knew how not to get in trouble when she was supposed to behave.

She offered gracious thanks to Lady Piara, although it came from Lady Algray.

The smaller box would hopefully have something better in it. Heyrina squealed in delight, her eyes shining, when she found a personal datapad. The little girl was growing and now knew how to read. In a way it had become easier to handle her when she couldn't scamper off to take things apart, or when she would not shut up with many questions. She was so happy that Lady Algray had gifted her her own datapad!

[Heyrina Tankreyd]

Heyrina adored her personal datapad. She had so far resisted the want to take it apart and back together, as she had kept doing with everything - not always with great success obviously - since she was able to play with things. She was happy to get to read as much as the content approved by her teacher and guardian. She couldn't get enough reading material. She was almost as passionate about reading - even when certain things flew over her head - as building and taking things apart.

Sometimes reading also made it easier to alleviate the solitude the little girl experienced, being the sole child in her guardian's estate for the most part. It also felt that while she was allowed to wander across the gardens to a degree, grownups didn't keep such a strong eye over her when she was sitting somewhere reading and scribbling or doodling. She liked not feeling watched. She hadn't thought about the possibility of people monitoring what she doodled or read, so who knew whether it was the case.

Curled up by a fireplace, she peeked at Lady Choi reviewing the last lesson she had taught her young pupil. The blonde child then returned her attention to what she was reading. She suddenly frowned when the signs turned into something she didn't know on the screen. She had seen such symbols a few times but didn't know what they were, and before she could do anything, they had vanished, as if they had been but a dream. It was frustrating but Heyrina didn't want to draw attention to something she couldn't explain, so she kept it to herself.