Snippet #1929240

Commuting was such a tedious process. There was nothing to do, nothing to see. Raine, a ball-jointed doll, rested her crafted head against the frosted glass that made up the window, without sparing a glance for the untamed wilderness outside. One of her small hands rested demurely in her lap, while the other tapped on the soft seat impatiently. Every so often, the carriage would lurch up into the air when hitting a stray stone, and Raine’s face became more thunderous with each jolt. The soft clipping sounds of the horses’ hooves made a dreadful monotony, and Raine watched through unblinking eyes the process of moving her body from one place to the next.

Her destination was like always, Terota, for her semiannual winding. While some dolls arrived in discrete manners, usually by foot unless possessing some particular economic benefits, this was a ceremony to Raine’s doll-like characteristics. What other human could even hope to possess that smooth skin, that shining hair, and more importantly, the thought of being blessed with it for an eternity and beyond? While infrequent, she was always certain to travel with the most comfort and pomp that she could afford at the time. Her destination was a charming, quaint village, at least it would be without the dratted people that populated it. Those humans and their mindless shadows of dolls. But even then, it was nothing compared to the beautiful port city of Sagen. Her city. That city she presided over as one of the oldest and most beautiful dolls. Raine, personally, missed the comfort of civilization…

A glance out of the window later, the slightly morphed buildings seen out of the window seemed familiar. The carriage jostled up and down on the cobblestones. All this made Raine come to the conclusion that they were almost there. Turning her eerie golden glass eyes of hers towards the external sights, she jerkily moved one hand towards the overly ornate handle to the door. Raine could not, personally, believe that the keykeeper would have decided to reside in such a little area… but he was human, so his ignorant behavior was just to be expected. Without notice, her hand tightened on the latch, and without notice, pushed.

The door swung open gracefully, with the carriage still rolling forward. With almost careless balance, Raine kept one hand on the open door, and used it as leverage to stretch herself up to her full height, showing off her appearance and clothing. She coughed, not to clear her throat, but to persuade her servant to pay more attention to her mistress. As a result of that, the carriage slowed and stopped, gliding to a stop in the middle of the street.

Raine allowed one of her clean and impeccable white slippers to touch the far more grimy surface of the street, before with her head held high like an aristocrat, and her movements almost curiously doll-like compared to the plethora of newer Jointless dolls. Walking down the street, she kept her golden eyes forward - the common masses were not worthy of her attention. But even then, her eyes were caught on those dolls that disturbed her. Those vain mockeries of humans, throwing away their own delightful characteristics - those dolls with skin. Raine would like to think that she drew the jealous glances of those others, but refrained from searching their more expression faces for such evidence.

There was one doll that made her skin crawl, that is, if she had any. A face that was rugged and covered with scars, Raine mentally shuddered with disgust and wounded pride. Her ‘father’ would not have created him in such a way, which meant that it was a new ‘addition.’ Being a doll was the gift of everlasting youth, and to imagine such a present from their ‘father’ taken away for the sole sake of appearing like a human. It was those dolls that she hated the most. Those dolls that flaunted their human characteristics; it almost made her think as though they were embarrassed of being a doll.

The dollkeeper’s place was abnormal today, but Raine paid it no mind before throwing open the door and striding inside. There was another doll - jointed, young. She didn’t pay the other any attention, before her eyes were drawn towards the shattered glass and splintered wood that covered the floor. She paused in the doorway, unwilling to scratch her possessions on such a mess. Turning her attention towards the only ‘living’ being, whom she assumed was a worker, started to speak - speech slow and halting, like that of a child. Her matter-of-fact tone made it clear that she was not expecting to be argued with. “Where is he?” Raine asked brusquely. “I need to get wound up. And mind you, this mess is unpleasant. I would highly suggest you do something about that.” Her black hair tumbled down her back, seemingly neat despite her long journey. Both arms hung down her sides stiffly, not in use. She paused, before continuing again. “The keykeeper will be back, rig-.”

....

She had just then caught the sight of the mindless destruction that pervaded the entire shop. The top drawer, on the right, where her key used to be. Looking with almost unbelieving eyes, Raine saw the gaping hole and without care for her shoes, stepped across the room towards the cabinets. Her key was gone - that beautiful object that the dollmaster had made for her. She turned with appalled anger towards the doll. “Is this your doing?”