The Hauptmann and the Child [Angelus]

[Heidi]

Country: Berlin Province, Germany
Current Time: 1:12
Weather Conditions: A little cooler than a few days before, but still pleasant. Clouds dot the sky in heaps and wisps, often blocking out the sun for a few moments. However, most of the weather is clear. There is a bit of a wind at times.

maps.google.com/maps?ll=52.515473,13.377679&z=18&t=h&hl=en

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Near the edge of the trees sat a little girl, one leg pulled against her chest, the other one stretched out to ease the dull ache in its thigh. Her black eyes were tired, a few tear marks on her cheeks, black hair falling all over her face. On the nearby road, cars whizzed to and fro, and people walked and talked - she made sure they couldn't see her. If she wasn't back in an hour, she didn't want the police finding her, and bringing her back to Doctor Strumfelder. He would be terribly angry if he found out she had wandered too far away from his building in Charlottenburg.

Her name was Adelheid Strumfelder, and she was lost, somewhere in the middle of Berlin.

With a small sniff, the girl rubbed at her eyes. They constantly watered from the dust in the wardrobe, and the cold wind had caused them to instantly tear again when it had picked up. Adelheid wondered if the constant dust had made her eyes sensitive; they had been sore and red for several mornings since the doctor had given her her "room". He had looked at her suspiciously a couple of times, as if having such a condition was a crime, but Adelheid had made sure that it didn't bother her. According to the doctor, a Strumfelder was not weak, and if they were, they didn't belong in Germany. His cane was a constant reminder of this fact, and his child had quickly learned to watch what she said and did.

And this was not one of the things she was supposed to do. She was supposed to stay near where his penthouse was, and come back to him immediately when her hour was up. When Adelheid had been let outside, though, she couldn't resist wandering; after staying in the wardrobe for so long, except for school and going to Nazi places, the world was like candy. It was the sweetest thing, and it was so delightful, she couldn't resist throwing caution to the wind. With only a slight limp from her leg hampering her, she had walked-ran off. Apparently, Doctor Strumfelder didn't know she had done it, because he hadn't come and followed her. It might have been because of that weird stuff he sniffed; it made him a little...silly, at times, especially if he took a long time in sniffing it. Adelheid had avoided going to the table with his sniffy stuff, partly because he had ordered her to, partly because she was scared of it.

Giving a tired sigh, the girl rubbed her sore leg, then looked at where the road was supposed to be. The girl guessed she had taken about thirty minutes to get away from Doctor Strumfelder's place - that left her thirty to find her way back. Her outing, it seemed, was a bust. She still didn't want to go out onto the road, but maybe she could follow the tree line? Maybe she could. As far as she knew, she had travelled in a straight line, with maybe a twist or turn here and there. If she kept that path, then nobody would see her, since she had moved into the trees early on.

A silvery light caught her attention, just on the edge of her vision. With a small, "Hmm?" of curiosity, she turned her head. After a few minutes of staring, she saw nothing more, and shrugged it off. Then, however....

"CRAAAW!"

Startled, Adelheid looked up. A dark figure sat in a tree, black and beady eyes fixed on her. Her own eyes narrowing, she saw that it was a rather, ruffled and lithe and perched with strange purpose. When had it gotten there? She hadn't heard a thing, just the sounds of the cars. All birds, she believed, except for an owl, flapped their wings noisily. Had she been thinking too much of Doctor Strumfelder to notice it?

"Craw! Craw!" cried the raven, flying from one branch to another, getting closer to Adelheid. The girl's head tilted, as it always did when she was curious. This rather was rather shiny; the light kept glinting off of its wings like it was made of blackened steel. Even stranger, she could swear it was trying to get her attention - since when did birds do that? Standing up to get a better look, Adelheid's body moved to the side a little, her head bending as far as it could.

"...Hallo?" the little German asked, blinking, deciding to go ahead and bite the metaphorical lure. She was about to say more, but soon received the shock of her life - the raven disappeared, right in front of her. Stunned, her mouth formed a little "o", and her face suddenly brightened as a familiar figure materialized on the branch. That figure slid down on the thicker part of the limb, smiling warmly at his daughter, not Strumfelder's.

"RHYS!" Adelheid squealed, beside herself with joy at the sight of her father. Moments later, however, her face fell as her Rhys-angel launched himself off of the tree branch, flying toward the northwest. The young girl immediately bolted after him, desperate to keep her father's angel in her sights after being without him for so long.

Even though she was just a few minutes' walk from it, she didn't realize her angel was leading her toward the road.

One Hauptmann isn't good enough for you? Jonas's feelings are hurt...

[Angelus Wolfram]

“Ich weiß ein sehr nettes französisches Bistro fünf Minuten von hier Heer Wolfram, sie haben sogar den feinsten Wein Heer” (I know a very nice French bistro five minutes from here Heer Wolfram, they even have the finest wine Heer) Oberfähnrich Verner delightfully suggested with a long paused smile emerging from across his face, displaying the two dimples upon either of his pale complex cheeks. Hauptmann Wolfram quirked his head sideways, biting at his lower lip questionably to himself, drafted into his own thoughts for the briefest of moments, contemplating the thought of dining a French cuisine for lunch. He had only recently returned from the pandemic frontlines deep within France herself, the thought of anything French churned his stomach inadequately.

Stiffening a shake from his head to Oberfähnrich Verner who strode alongside him to his left, Leutnant Charles buckled up an idea to voice; “Wenn Sie nicht Lust haben, Heer zu essen, konnten wir immer die lokale Radiostation besuchen. Mein Bruder würde uns froh einlassen, sie haben ein lebendes Orchester, das ganze diese Woche im Laufe jedes Abends spielt” (If you do not feel like eating Heer, we could always visit the local radio station. My brother would gladly let us in, they have a live orchestra playing all of this week throughout every evening) Leutnant Charles voiced cheerfully, becoming too apparently thrilled that he may have the chance to see his brother for a while, but again, Hauptmann Wolfram stiffened a small shake to his head, murmuring a vague “Nein” (No) from the wisp of his breath, concentrating more on walking his dog Jäger.

The two junior officers quietened down, exchanging a silent look of concern between each other from behind Hauptmann Wolfram’s back, not quite knowing or understanding on how they were to entertain their senior officer for the evening to come, let alone the brisk evening lunchtime they were enduring painfully and dreadfully, failing to entertain or appease the officer’s attention long enough for a small talk. Low and behold, Hauptmann Wolfram had no interest for Berlin’s indulgencies or his small montage for company, assigned to pester, rather then entertain from his point of view. How crude could his day get? The Hauptmann thought to himself, coiling his slender long hand around the leash to his dog, strengthening his grip upon the animal as Jäger began to impatiently pull the Hauptmann’s body towards a slow approaching tree littering their path.

Coming to a stop, it almost seemed comical as the three officers idly stood about, whilst young Jäger prowled back and forth against the tree, sniffing where other animals may have crossed the same piece of Earth, before eventually marking his territory with an unsteady cock of the leg. Hauptmann Wolfram released a long sigh, glancing to the two men keeping him company, who nervously smiled the moment they felt his gaze slice over their faces; How awkward could things get? The Hauptmann just wanted to be alone, but it seemed to be new policy for officers to travel in groups, as if numbers were better, when ideologically and realistically they made fatter targets for any rebellious fighters littering the streets or overhead bombers stooping low, across the faint dainty clouds of Berlin.

“Eruuf! Errruuuf!” Jäger barked out, startled at seeing something small and inferior within his sights, moving quickly along the foliage. Hauptmann Wolfram’s body arched backwards as young Jäger tried to throttle forwards, as if to give chase, but found himself working his way up onto his hind legs, panting for a breath against the tight restrain of the collar. “Unten Jäger! Unten!” (Down Jäger! Down!) the Hauptmann bawled out, tugging the leash downwards to drag the dog from off it’s upwards stance. Jäger was only a couple of years old, but he’d been trained well by divisional dog handlers, who churned out well trained mutts every year, with a six to eight month program once they reached a near enough eight months old. So Jäger was still very young and keen, only ever remembering his arduous training, so seeing a fleeing figure bounce from between the trees and through the foliage, had the young pup rearing up to follow it’s instincts in putting a stop to the flaunting figure.

Tugging at the leash, Hauptmann Wolfram gazed off towards the small figure moving through the brush. “Sie! Kind! Was Sie ist, da drüben tuend!?” (You! Child! What are you doing over there!?) the Hauptmann called out, surprising the two officers keeping him company, who both stepped aside to get a look at the young child who’d wandered into the Hauptmann’s keen sight. “Wo Ihre Eltern sind!? Es ist gefährlich, um hier allein - Zu viele Nazis auf dem Umherstreifen umherzuwandern” (Where are your parents!? It's dangerous to be wandering about out here alone - Too many Nazis on the prowl) the Hauptmann joked, giving a firm stare to Oberfähnrich Verner who unfortunately was closest within the vicinity of his sight, a crooked glare being given from the corner of his eyes, before looking on over to the young girl again. Jäger’s tail began to wag slowly, as his button eyes blinked at the young child, who he mistook for a conspicuous crouching figure, swiftly moving through the brush faster then he probably he could.

Whilst the Hauptmann awaited to be answered, he brushed one of his gloved hands down against his grey field tunic, noticing a few dog hairs clinging to the uncomfortable material of his uniform. Angelus was quite the perfectionist and tried to look immaculate as he could, whenever he could; Thankfully, his immaculate persona didn’t entirely reflect his hard nature, as the Hauptmann was quite soft hearted and down to Earth. He was fighting for a better Germany, not in the name of Adolf Hitler and not in the fanatical causes of the ideological Nazis. No, he was fighting for his own causes and for a better Germany - unfortunately, no-one expected to be driven into the caverns of following out barbaric orders of destroying the Jewish race and any other inferior race within Germany herself. No, Angelus never saw these days coming and he didn’t quite like the orders he was given, but he didn’t have a choice in the matter…



Side Note: Sorry if my post may be out of shape, it is the early hours and being my first post, I can only hope to mould my character into shape of my writing style. If that makes any sense? Playing with a fresh character can be quite difficult, until you become settled with their thinking and physical attributes when dealing with matters at hand.

[Heidi]

OOC - Adelheid's a perfect case of that. When I wrote her app, I gave her a confident, semi-cocky personality, but I felt it didn't reflect her background well enough. So, I turned around and made her shy and humble instead.

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The deep bark of a German Shepherd immediately caught Adelheid's attention. In mid-step, she whirled toward the sound, the angel only she could see winking out of existence as she turned her head. A tiny, "Eep!" of fear escaped her lips, scared by the sight of the three men and their lithe, excitable dog. As the command for the dog to back off was given, Adelheid dived into the nearest patch of bushes, hitting the ground slightly harder than anticipated. She winced, gasping slightly as she landed on her stomach.

"Sie! Kind! Was Sie ist, da drüben tuend!?" barked a voice, firm and strong and deep. It was of an older man's, and by the sound of it, he was used to yelling. Adelheid figured for him to be just another important Nazi - and whenever one of those was around, then Adelheid was sure that they knew Doctor Strumfelder. The man had said he had big, powerful friends, a few of which his adopted daughter had seen for herself.

Lying as still as she could, Adelheid breathed as quietly as she could, hoping the men would see her as an animal. The next words of the Nazi scared her even more - there were more of them? And they were prowling around in the forest? How many had seen Adelheid when hadn't seen them?! Even worse, what if they had gone and told Doctor Strumfelder where she was?!!

Heart fluttering, the girl shaking slightly, the child lifted her head to peak through the leaves. The dog was just standing there, looking expectantly at the forest's edge, the men most likely doing the same. Her Rhys-angel was nowhere in sight - where had he disappeared to? Did he only come around when there were no Nazis? If so, Adelheid would be upset...the time she needed her angel the most was when the Nazis were around. But if she acted like an animal, then maybe the dog and the men would go away? It could work, if she tried hard enough, and possibly bring her Rhys-angel back.

Brow furrowing in concentration, the girl lowered herself slightly, trying to think of a reasonable impression. A birdsong wouldn't work - the whistle might excite the nearby dog further. She couldn't act like another dog either...she would sound worse than those noisy little dogs she had seen several times before. So, that only left one option left, and that option was a cat's meow. It was the only other animal she could think of imitating.

After a few moments of silence to calm the dog down, Adelheid drew a deep, silent breath. Then, praying with all her might she sounded convincing, she let out a high-pitched, "Miau. Miaaaaau."

[Edward"Butcher"McMillan]

Good posts so you get more than usual for the short thread.

Addie - 5CP

Angel - 3CP

-JT