FATHER OF MINE — VISITOR

[london r.]

Family was a complicated matter for London, though perhaps not as complicated as it may be for others. It wasn't as if they'd been bad people or anything like that, quite on the contrary, they had been wonderful, kind and loving. However they no longer shared this plane of existence, and it was all her fault. London was at fault for every single one of their deaths, at least she believed she was. After all, she and her brothers had always been together, and yet she had never been plagued with the illness that had led to their demise. And she hadn't even searched for a cure either. It was somewhat of the same thing with her mother's death, something that could have been prevented if she'd just tried. The albino clouded leopard was a horrible being, she hadn't been able to stop her mother from killing herself. She hadn't even gone to look for her until it was far too late, the poison already having stopped Maria's heartbeat by the time the girl had stumbled upon the corpse.

Five deaths lay at her useless paws, where just trying could have changed their fate. But things got worse afterwards, when she'd been plagued by illusions of the memories that had once seemed so joyful returning to haunt her. Even her dreams were no longer safe, night terrors attacking the girl in her sleep. Eventually it came to be too much, and the girl ran away. There was nothing really to run away from though, for the only people she'd ever really cared for no longer existed. Still, the change in scenery had brought back the girl's smile, and she'd been able to meet all kinds of interesting new people and little by little she got to know their stories too.

Just like today, which had started like any other normal day. However, during her walk through the territory, London was able to register some voices, Jacob's being the most familiar. It seemed today she would hear part of his story, one that would surely be interesting as the man at the border was apparently his father. London had never met her own father, actually she had kind of forgotten that most people had two parents. She knew nothing about her father, in fact she'd never even asked Maria about him, and now it was too late. Even if she were to encounter him, he surely would not recognize her, she looked nothing like her mother. But it was great to see that not everyone residing in Snowbound had complicated relationships with their parents, at least it did not appear that way after witnessing Jacob's reaction to seeing his father. In fact the duo seemed rather close, how nice.

The girl did not wish to interrupt the family reunion, however that insatiable curiosity drew the girl closer and she couldn't help but wish to witness what having a father was like. "Hello sir, my name is London, it's a pleasure to meet you." the girl would say, maintaining a comfortable yet polite air about her words. The clouded leopard would resonate a light smile towards the father and son and grandson duo, intrigued by Jacob's use of a second language now that he was with his father. It was rather beautiful, and she wondered if more of it would reach her ears. Perhaps she could even ask Jacob to teach her some words at a different time, but knowing the meaning of the words might just kill the magic of not knowing.