Sofia the First

Einar saw the human and loved her. He bounded up to her, hopping all over with excitement and immediately started giving her plenty of kisses. “Einar,” he boofed. “Einar, Einar, Einar! I’m a warrior!” 

Sindri, who didn’t know Einar had already explained who he was, jogged up to them and tried to calm his dog down. “This is Einar,” he said to the girl, patting his dog’s head. “I think he really likes you.” 

“I do,” Einar huffed. “I do like you. You smell nice.” Einar felt the pat on his head and he remembered that he wasn’t supposed to jump on people. He was bigger than he thought. That’s what Sindri always said. He was always reminding him of that kind of stuff because he didn’t want anyone to get hurt. 

Sindri smiled at the girl and held out his hand. “I’m Sindri,” he said. 

“Well hello, Einar!” Sofia cooed, scratching the enthusiastic puppy behind his ears as she kissed his nose. What an absolute sweetheart! Sofia had always liked dogs, even before learning to speak with them.

His owned patted his head and Sofia helped settle him back on the ground before holding out her own hand. “I’m Sofia! It’s lovely to meet you both! I hope I’m not interrupting anything, I didn’t expect to run into anyone else out here.” Einar shoved his face against Sofia’s hand for more scratches and she giggled, obliging the fluffy creature happily.

She looked back up at Sindri curiously. “Are you guys tourists? I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

“You have no idea how glad I am that you’ve not been Lamb Chop all along. I mean, better a cute girl my age pretending to be a cat see me naked all the time than a 40-year-old man pretending to be a cat, but! Still not ideal! Er, I mean-” Tigg blanched, open mouth insert foot, of course.

“Right, ‘andshakes. I’m Tigg. I live on the first floor and-” She paused and narrowed her eyes at Sofia, dropping her hand. “Wait a second. ‘Ow do you know she’s just visitin’ friends? Do you speak cat?”

Sofia’s cheeks went pink when Tigg called her ‘cute’; genuine compliments from people who didn’t want new laws passed or schools built were rare in her world, and it was rather flattering. Of course, the context of said compliment ended up making Sofia snort and giggle, immediately and unfortunately ruining the whole ‘cute’ thing.

At Tigg’s question, Sofia shrugged, wiggling her hand. “Eh, not specifically cats?” she said. “I can speak to most animals.” Tigg already knew she could shapeshift, and didn’t seem to have any idea that Sofia was, you know, royalty, so she didn’t see the harm in mentioning the ‘Talking to Animals’ thing.

“Take that, tree!” 

Sindri laughed and conjured frost around the base of the giant tree. It dissipated in about three seconds, but he was still proud of himself. It wasn’t the coldest down here in England, and the warmer things were, the more difficult it was to freeze something. It kind of made him realize how easy he’d had it up in Iceland. Eh, easier. 

He looked up at the trees surrounding him as he crunched the leaves beneath his feet. This was the longest continuous amount of time he’d spent human-sized like this and he actually liked it a lot. It had been two whole weeks and he wanted to make it at least a few more days. It was all part of the experience, wasn’t it? Flying on the plane, apartment hunting, enrolling in his classes. He was like a proper human now! How wicked! 

Sindri whistled, calling Einar to him from wherever he was playing in the forest. When he finally spotted the big, fluffy Samoyed, he knelt down and opened his arms, waiting for his dog to tackle him. “Did you have fun, Einar? Huh? Is this a fun forest to play in? Do you miss the snow?” 

Off to his right, Sindri heard a crunch and looked up to find someone entering the trees. Einar stopped and looked at the newcomer like he was trying to decide if he wanted to tackle them too. Before Sindri could stop him, the big dog rushed forward, bouncing happily. 

But the forest still felt new and strange to her, not a second home like the forest in Enchancia did. It was this odd feeling of disconnect that made her homesick more than anything.

Sofia was on one of her walks when she heard voices around the bend. She came around, a smile on her face to greet the strangers, and stopped when the Samoyed turned with a glint in his eyes that immediately had Sofia bracing for impact. Sure enough, the large dog ran at her happily, and Sofia was already laughing by the time he leaped into her arms. “Hi, handsome!” she said with a grin, scratching behind the dog’s ears enthusiastically. “I haven’t seen you before! What’s your name?” 

“Ah!” Tigg exclaimed, in a vocalization that wasn’t quite a shout.

You know, Tigg was good at reacting to weird shit. Usually. But it wasn’t every day that the weird thing you’re reacting to is a really pretty girl that was a cat a moment ago clinging to your shoulders for dear life. Tigg, being awkward, gay, and everything else, damn near dropped her. But didn’t! Her grip faltered, before she got it back before she bruised the girl-not-cat.

After a couple seconds of false starts- “Wow, I really thought you were! You looked just like my cat Lamb Chop. I think I’m funny. Actually, I am funny, everybody else just has no ‘umor or joy in their lives.”

And Tigg, not knowing the protocol for when to unhand the girl who transformed fro ma cat to a person in your arms, still held her. She was light, so. Eh, no big deal.

“Unless you were Lamb Chop all along, which. Would be bloody weird.”

"No, I’m not,” Sofia quickly reassured the woman, even as she tried to gracefully fall out of her arms. “Or, I wasn’t. Lamb Chop, that is. Lamb Chop went to visit some of her stray friends. I just wanted a nap in the sun,” she admitted bashfully. 

Once she was standing and had straightened out her clothes and hair, Sofia held out her hand to the other woman with a smile. “Hi, by the way. I’m Sofia. My friends live here so I’m over... well, a lot.”

Tigg, unlike the princess cat in her arms, was not aware of the full situation. She was under the impression she’d found her missing kitty, which! Could not be less true.

Though, maybe it could be. She could’ve been holding a princess-turned-raccoon. At least it was a princess-turned-calico.

“Nope! Nuh-uh. You’re not getting away this time, you jerk. Claw my skin off, I dare you, I’ll just go tiger and scare you again when you least expect it!” Tigg chastised who she thought was Lamb Chop.

Yes, she knew cats didn’t speak English. But it sure calmed her panic.

See, Sofia was going to ignore her words, thinking the ‘go tiger’ thing was just a joke. But then her little kitty nose caught a proper sniff of the woman holding her and the princess just thought ‘Oh!’ She smelled wild, like rain-soaked jungles and ancient magic and something Sofia could only identify as ‘predator’.

Well, that was certainly interesting. She was going to have fun diffusing this situation, wasn’t she?

Once they were inside the small lobby, away from curious eyes, purple light washed over the small cat and within moments a young woman was now held in Tigg’s arms, clinging to her shoulders and looking up at her with an awkward smile.

“Hi!” Sofia chirped. “I’m uh... not your cat.” 

“Lamb Chop, Laaaaamb Chop, baby, come ‘ome to mummy,” Tigg called, clicking her tongue and looking around. 

She’ll come home, right? She always hung around the apartment when she was a stray. Always. That’s how Tigg ended up taking her in! How she ended up taking all her cats in. She had a habit for collecting strays, just like herself.

After about thirty seconds, Tigg began to loose hope. She pulled at her hair in true Tigg meltdown fashion and rocked on the balls of her feet. She was about to cry–

And then! Tigg found her!

“There you are, you arsehole!” she exclaimed, bending down and swiping the calico off the ground. “Gotcha now, you shit.”

‘Oh no, she lost her cat!’ thought Sofia.

‘I should give her a hand,’ thought Sofia.

‘Where the heck did the ground just go!?’ thought Sofia.

The princess-turned-cat blinked in shock as she was scooped off the ground, her paws up in the air and definitely not where they should be; on the dang floor. No, instead the woman had picked her up, confusing her for Lamb Chop.

Sofia meowed weakly in confusion, wriggling a bit to try and break free but being sure not to claw at the woman too much. She was just worried about her cat after all! Sofia could relate, she still got nervous around butcher shoppes when Clover wasn’t tucked safely in her arms.

@sofia-firstofhername

To say Tigg was freaking out was an understatement. See, her precious Lamb Chop had ESCAPED!

The cat ran right out the door of apartment 1H and when the nerd with glasses from the sixth floor was walking inside the building, she took that opportunity to run outside! OUTSIDE!

What if a giant owl scooped her up and ATE HER!?

Tigg was going to kill that nerd for letting her calico escape.

In between working extra shifts and looking for a second job, Sofia made sure to enjoy what free time she had, and on a rare day of sun in the English winter, nothing sounded better than curling up on a warm brick wall in a spot of sun.

Sofia had shifted inside, waiting until someone opened the door (meowing a greeting at Mateo) and slipping out behind him along with another cat until she could find a nearby wall to curl up on. The other cat - Lamb Chop, a resident that Sofia had chatted with frequently before - rubbed against Sofia’s side before wandering off to visit some of her friends who were strays. Sofia bid her a brief goodbye chirp before curling up and beginning to purr.

When the woman Sofia only recognized in passing walked out, she sat up, watching the frantic woman curiously.

“Salutations, yes, hello–I know, your face of shock is duly noted. I am not lost, before you ask. It is simply that I, Jack Skellington, have moved back to my hometown. Yes! I am from Swynlake originally. I wrote about it in my book: Jack Skellington: The Truth Behind Hemlock Hill. 

But that is not why I have stopped you today! I need your opinion, kind citizen. What play is it that the secondary should put on this year? I am thinking about Arsenic and Old Lace, but that is so overdone, don’t you think?” 

This gentleman had jumped about three pages ahead in the script. Her look of shock was more so regarding the fact that he seemed to not pause for breath during his spiel more than anything.

But Sofia was nothing if not adaptable, and she gave him a smile as she set down his drink. “I’m sorry, sir, I don’t recognize that one,” she admitted, holding her tray in front of her hips as she cocked her head to the side curiously. “What’s it about?”

Since there is very little out there at the moment on some exclusively Welsh traditions, I’m going to share a few with you that I’ve learned from my relatives.

1. Rhod Dwyn, or “Gift Theft”: it’s like a violent gift exchange. The Welsh are nuts about getting rowdy. Everybody brings a gift, and all of the gifts are shaken, peeked at and whispered about until somebody decides to choose which one they want. The object is literally to “steal” the gift you want, and the game ends when everybody steals and is able to hold onto their present.

2. The welsh were primarily dominated by the druids, so a family wide display of songs, music, poetry, and art is usually shown off after everybody has calmed down. Usually somebody will break out the Mabinogion and read a few stories in the glow of the fire.

3. Lots of mulled wine and the traditional Yule decor goes into this, focusing mainly on holly and miseltoe. Oh and every christmas light-up fixture known to mankind.

“What were you looking for?”

Esmeralda laughed to herself at the question.  While she was referring to what Esme had been looking for in an evening, it was not lost on Esme how weighted a question it was if you looked beyond that.

“Honestly, I was just looking for some good company,” she said with a smile,” Although, I may have succeeded with that.”

She was adorable, and it was a nice contrast to how the evening had started.  Perhaps the less than desirable aspects of the evening had actually helped save it.

“I’m Esmeralda, it’s nice to meet you,” she said, taking her hand and shaking it,”  What did you order?  Is the food good?”

She had a good handshake, which in Sofia’s weird diplomat part of her brain, only made her opinion of Esmeralda even greater. “If I’m good at anything, it’s socializing,” Sofia joked. You know, princess and all that. “Happy to help, Esmeralda!”

At her question, Sofia hummed and reached over to where some menus had been stored on the bar. “I got the stew,” she said, opening the menu and pointing to her selection. “Aaaand the last time I was here, I got the shepard’s pie and that was pretty good! The fries- oh, sorry, chips, are great here too. Most of the stuff here is really heavy, but I mostly come for the atmosphere,” she admitted, wincing when somewhere behind her, there was the sound of shattering glass and loud cheering. 

“At least, I do on nights when it’s quieter,” she said with a sheepish grin. “Helps with the homesickness.”

Esme smiled at the woman who came to sit with her, glancing back toward the fireplace that was now occupied by another small group of animated people.  She felt annoyed on the girl’s behalf and motioned for her to take the open stool next to her.

She gave a half smile to her,”  This wasn’t exactly what I was looking for tonight either.  Rotten luck, I guess.”

“Absolutely terrible luck,” Sofia agreed with a small smile as she nodded at the woman gratefully, hopping up onto the stool beside her. Sofia ran her fingers through her hair, pushing it back out from in front of her glasses. 

“What were you looking for?” Sofia asked curiously, resting her elbows on the bar and tucking her hands under her chin. “If I may ask, that is. If not, I’ll be quiet,” she said sheepishly. At least the noise in the pub hadn’t reached a level that Sofia had to yell her questions at the stranger.

Oh. Whoops. Right.

“I’m Sofia, by the way,” she said with a grin, holding out one hand towards the woman.

Esme attempted to talk Quasi out with her for the evening, but he’d opted to stay home.  She wasn’t looking for anything crazy, as much as an excuse to get out of her home for the night.  Flying solo lead her to the bar of The Hunted Deer, with hope that she’d be able to find someone or a group to mingle with for the evening.  She’d been in Swynlake long enough that she’d hoped to have more friends by now, but for some reason, she’d had a little trouble acclimating.

She’d been here about 20 minutes already, sipping Grand Marnier, and people watching.  There was a decent crowd, but given the largest group appeared to have each drank their weight in liquor and the volume of the table was practically deafening, she couldn’t help but think tonight was the worst night to attempt to make friends.

Yeah, that was not what was going to happen.

The crowd was wild, and if Sofia hadn’t just ordered some food and was absolutely starving, she probably would have bailed on the whole adventure. But she had and she was, so instead she looked for somewhere to hide. Sofia noticed the woman sitting by herself at the bar, calmly and quietly watching the proceedings - if not with a bit of an exasperated look on her pretty features - and Sofia practically bolted towards her.

“Hi!” she said, a nervous smile on her face. “I don’t suppose you’d mind terribly if I sat with you while I wait for my food, would you? I basically got kicked out of my seat by the fireplace.”