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Despite the roaring of the helicopter blades, the sounds of air being sliced around her, the jarring of the helicopter controls and the incessant chatter of the pilot and co-pilot, it couldn't be any more quiet inside Maddie's head as she sat inside the chopper. She was sitting back in a small, cushioned chair, her arms folded, as she waited for the helicopter to land at long last. Her deep, dark brown, chocolate eyes scanned the room, examining every nook, every cranny, every angle of the small helicopter's interior. As her father would always tell her, [i]"Every opportunity you have awake is one to observe your surroundings. Hone your awareness. There is no use for sunlight if is not being focused."[/i] She would spend hours on some days just observing scenery, observing rooms, observing people and recalling information about them. She thought back to days when her father would take her to restaurants on the Eastern district, and would ask her to close her eyes and recall details about patrons from memory, their clothing, their positions relative to each other, and more. Maddie enjoyed those experiences, these simpler tests of wit and memory over a dish of [i]gu lou juk[/i] as opposed to being smack-dab in the middle of an enemy base, surrounded by hostiles, looking for anything that can get you out of that situation.

[b]"And here I am, drifting away again,"[/b] she mumbled to herself, looking up again. While it wasn't the first time she had been away from home, it was the first time that she would be [u]this[/u] far away from home for [u]this[/u] long, and it was taking its toll on Maddie's mental state ever so slightly. It wasn't like Maddie lacked the ability to take care of herself in any sense of the word, nor was she afraid of the challenges that awaited her in Oxford, England. As both a longtime student of espionage and near-native English speaker, she was confident she would adjust well to her new life. But sometimes emotions do not act rationally, and indeed, Maddie believed the strange "butterflies-in-stomach" experience she was currently undergoing was related to the strange way that emotions sometimes work. 

There was suddenly a loud bump as the helicopter landed in Oxford, giving Maddie a sudden jolt. She stood quickly as the pilot emerged from the cockpit, peaking his head out as he spoke in a thick drawl. [color=fff79a]"Aye, we're 'ere, love. Ye can ged off 'bout now. Ye ain't a far walk 'rom the 'dress ye gave me. Just a few blocks 'round the corner and ye'll be right o'er there."[/color]

Maddie quickly stood, grabbing her bag, and gave the pilot a curt nod. [b]"Thank you, sir. Your services are well-appreciated."[/b]

The man gave a nod back. [color=fff79a]"Take care."[/color] He gave another glance, now suspicious. [color=fff79a]"Ey, who are ye, walking 'round London alone with a private 'elicopper ride? Who sent ye here? What mischief 'ya up to?"[/color]

The girl was already long gone.

Maddie walked away from the helipad down the streets of Oxford, her eyes once again buzzing alight in a new environment. She wore a choker top, white with pale blue flower imprints winding around it, underneath a black Broome leather jacket with gold highlights. She also wore a pair of black jeans and a pair of matching knee-high black boots. Around her shoulder was a dark blue satchel with silver trim and silver dragon emblem sewed onto the center, a gift from her mother a year earlier. 

Winding through the streets of Oxford, observing all the way, Maddie approached a large, almost out-of-place black building. She looked down at the scrap of paper she held in her hand before looking back up at the building. 

[b]"Seems...about right,"[/b] she said quietly, in English, to herself. Despite having learned it at a very young age, Maddie still was not entirely confident with her English skills, perhaps from a lack of practice opportunities. She gave a nonchalant shrug. [b]"Guess I'll wait."[/b]

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