To keep things short- it was raining. Raindrops relentlessly batter the land, showing no end to its endeavor of saturating the earth, and the trees that were planted in it. It was sunrise and Yamato was quite down as she wouldn't be able to see the sun as it slowly rises up, gracing the sky with different, burnished colors- she knew it was the clouds' fault. The blatant booming thunder could be heard miles away, along with the roaring sound of the strong winds. Yamato took a sip of her tea, as the pitter-patter of the rain beating against her window was heard.
She was alone in her orderly room, which seemed to glisten and shine under the light of the chandelier- the only thing the kept the room lit. The room was very massive and glamorous, with a high ceiling, gorgeous decor that came from foreign countries and polished marble walls. The wooden floorboards, the only thing that seemed to ruin the perfection; were lustrous and clean, and also sparkling, like some precious gem- though they may look precisely spotless and new, they were quite old; you could hear the creaks of the panels with each light, careful steps and see the barely noticeable cracks and gaps. A king-sized bed was placed in the middle of the wall furthest from the tall windows; heavenly comfortable, with golden trimmed duvet covers, and foam pillows. It was more like a hotel than a normal dorm room. Her room was located on the top floor of the dorm that was nearest of the ocean- but it was still pretty far away. Yamato looked out the window and saw the murky waves crashing onto the shore in a powerful force- it would have been nice to go for a walk, but the rain had beat her to it.
Yamato was curled in a comfortable position in her arm chair, a large, leather-bound book placed on her lap. It was old; maybe decades old, with a charred, worn-out cover, cracked spine, and torn pages. You could barely make out the illustration on the front cover, and the title, but thanks to the information Hachi had provided her, Yamato knew what they were: The Flowers Shall Wither, with a wilting blue hibiscus as the illustration; though both had something to do with flowers, it wasn't a book about plants, it was more like a book about death and a little girl surviving some war. Upon opening the book, she was greeted by a wave of sadness as she read the first page of the book- the death of the protagonist's mother. She didn't notice time pass by as she read the book, she was captivated, interested of the book's plot. A couple of hours later, she looked out the window to check how the weather was now, but to Yamato's surprise, the rain hadn't sighed and closed the book, taking another sip of the black tea that a certain battlecruiser had given her the day before. She sat there quietly, staring at the clock hanging on the wall in front of her; then, she heard light footsteps approaching her. "Hmm? who could that be?"
The door burst open, revealing Fubuki, a ship girl who was plain and normal as heck, standing in the doorway. Her hair and clothes were soaked, it seemed that the yellow raincoat she had worn had proved to have did a horrible job of protecting the destroyer from the weather; water dripped down from it and began creating a small puddle underneath Fubuki. She was puffing, and her eyes were wide open as if she saw something shocking. "Yamato-San!, I...need your...help!" Fubuki panted.
Yamato approached the panicking destroyer. "What is it, Fubuki-Chan?". Fubuki grabbed Yamato's hand without saying another word, and began dragging her down the hall. Fubuki did not care about the pairs of eyes that watched her, as she continued dragging Yamato, nor did she care about the audible whispers coming from passersby. "W-what are you doing, Fubuki-chan!?" Yamato demanded, trying to get Fubuki to release her grip; but to no avail. Fubuki was ignoring Yamato and was concentrating on moving on forward without stopping. To Yamato, it was quite strange, that someone like Fubuki; who was mostly cheerful and determined from time to time, looking scared and panicked, but was more strange that Fubuki- a single destroyer; was capable of hauling Yamato- The biggest battleship to have ever been constructed, without any help.
They soon arrived on the first floor, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the huge double door that would lead them outside. "Fubuki, please tell me what's going on?" Fubuki was still ignoring her. She pushed opened the door, and they were both greeted by the strong power of the wind. Fubuki loosened her grasp from Yamato's hand and ran outside- towards the ocean. "Hey! Fubuki, wait!" Yamato soon followed Fubuki outside, and as she stepped out and closed the doors, the top of her head, and parts of her clothes were already soaking wet. The trees were forced to be blown to the side, proven to be weak against the power growing currents of the wind. She blocked her face with her arms to be able to see better, as the rain poured down heavily from the vast grey space above her like gunfire- though it was barely working. Yamato caught a glimpse of yellow, and she realized it was Fubuki.
"Ugh...can't see..." Suddenly, Yamato felt two pairs of hands grabbing both of her hands and began dragging her. She opened her eyes and saw Yuudachi and Mutsuki guiding her through the tough weather. "Wheres Fubuki-Chan!?" Yamato yelled.
"She's on the shore, poi!" Yuudachi yelled back, shielding her eyes from the wind and rain. "We don't know what she's doing, but earlier, she came to us before she came to you, asking for help!" Yuudachi's voice was slowly drowned out by the roaring sound of the wind, and the booming of rumbling thunder. A moment later, a yellow streak appeared up in the sky, followed by a loud boom. Surprised by the object, Yamato quickly closed her eyes once more.
"We need to hurry! Or else we're gonna be struck by lighting!" Mutsuki shouted. "There she is!" Though she couldn't see, Yamato could tell that they had arrived near the shore, a safe distance from the large rolling waves of the ocean. She took a tiny peek of her surroundings, and saw- though was blurry; Fubuki close to the sandy shoreline, carrying something on her back. More lightning bolt flashed in the sky, adding a more dramatic effect to the situation. Noticing that Fubuki was about to collapse under the weight of the thing she was carrying, Yamato, Yuudachi, and Mutsuki quickly rushed towards Fubuki's side. The two destroyers flanked her, as Yamato picked up the 'thing' that was on Fubuki's back; she immediately realized that the 'thing' was a human girl, that looked like she was barely even 10, frail and helpless like a lamb.
The girl had matted, unkempt black hair, bags were under her eyes, implying that it was far long that the girl had any good night's sleep and there were blood and slash mark on her pale body. She was malnourished, Yamato noted, seeing how thin the girl was. The clothes the girl wore were a tattered white hoodie that sported a yin-yang symbol on the front, near the left breast, a blue scarf that reached down to her knees, wrapped twice around her neck, and a black skirt, faded in color; they had one thing common with each other and that was that both were torn and worn out, falling apart at any minute. But against the harsh conditions, the clothes were doing a fine job of sheltering the wearer from the rain.
"What happened to her, Fubuki-Chan!?" Yamato shouted. "Was she attacked by abyssals?!" No answer, no confirmation of the pitiful fate of the poor girl. "Fubuki!" The destroyer was completely ignoring her, or more like couldn't hear due to the sudden pressure of the wind getting stronger, infiltrating her hearing and making it, along with the rumbling noises and splashing of rain, the only thing to be heard. It was getting darker- the night was falling. But through the extreme conditions, they managed to find the dorm house- a black shape looming in the distance, light seeping out the windows, illuminating the darkness of the outdoors. They rushed towards the building, and burst through the doors with a vigorous force.
"Eh? Yamato, Fubuki, Yuudachi, Mutsuki? What were you guys doing outside?" A familiar voice made itself heard. Yamato looked up, her purple eyes meeting red ones. "Musashi? Oh...um..." Musashi's gaze drifted from Yamato, to the unconscious human girl laying in Yamato's arms.
Musashi narrowed her eyes. "Is that a human?" She asked, to which Yamato responded with a simple nod. "What was it doing outside?"
"We don't know, but I think she may have been washed up a shore, as we found her near the waters" Fubuki spoke for the rest of them. "Um..is it ok, Mushashi-san, if we can-"
"Take care of her for now?" Musashi interrupted. "I'm afraid I don't know, you could go ask Admiral, but she's busy doing paperwork right now, it's best that we don't disturb her". Silence soon fell upon them, the atmosphere around them was both awkward and tense. But the silence did not last long, as the girl, Yamato held began to stir. "Is she waking up?"
"She looks kinda adorable in her sleep, poi" Yuudachi said. "Should we get her to bed?"
"Yes, that'll do" Yamato replied. "Fubuki-chan, Mutsuki-chan, is there a free space in your room?"
Mutsuki shook her head. "No, we don't but there's a vacant room beside ours, it's kinda like a storage room for our floor-oh! there's a bed too, so it's probably the best choice for now" Thanking the destroyer for the hospitality, she goes off, but before she could reach halfway down the hall, Musashi's voice perked up, grabbing her attention.
"What are you gonna say to admiral?"
Yamato turned towards her, and smiled. "I'll just tell her all about it.
"And what if she might get angry?" Musashi asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Don't worry about it, we all know admiral is a nice woman" Yamato reassured.
"I know"
The girl felt numb; every inch of her body felt broken, aching with pain. Her mind was screaming for her to move, but her body refused to move. It was comfortable, despite the pain that overwhelmed her; the object she was laying on. She stayed there and continued to enjoy the moment of ecstasy. She wanted to go back to sleep, but something the was lurking in her mind forbade her to- she wanted to know where she was.
The girl began tugging on the thing that was covering her, shielding her from the cold. She opened her eyes and was able to finally see what was covering her- a thick, heavy blanket. It was colored light red, a much different contrast of red that she was familiar with; a color that reminded her the many deaths she had seen.
Her train of thought was broken when she heard chirping noises, and on instinct turned her head towards the direction where the sound came from. She took a little peek and saw a tiny black bird hopping on the sill of the window near her. That's when she realized she was in a room. It was filled with various objects; art equipment, posters, figurines...miniature torpedoes? The room was basically covered in random items, some piled up in a huge heap, hiding the wooden brown color of the floor. Along with the sight, came a smell, foreign for her nose; it was a complete difference to the salty smell of the ocean that she was used to. The room, hammered an image in the girl's mind- home, something she wanted, yearning for its warmth, and finally escaping the institute; a bloody, dark abyss, she once called 'home'.
Looking down at her body, only did the girl saw that she was covered in clean bandages, and her wounds were treated- no signs of any blood what so ever. Instead of her original clothes, she wore a plain white t-shirt that was too big for her and hung loosely down near her knees and black shorts. Her other clothes were all fixed and stitched back to their genuine form, neatly folded and placed on an old, rickety wooden chair that sat in the far left corner of the room- She would have to thank whoever fixed her clothes later.
She looked to the side, towards the open window, and saw the bird no longer there. Wanting to see the bird was nearby, she forced her body to get up, ignoring the submerging pain that; once again, deluged her. With one final push, she managed to lift the blanket off her, and get out the soft bed, only to tumble down to the floor as her legs were too weak, finally responding to its current condition. The girl dragged herself towards the window using her arms as her only transport; it was hard, and the pain seemed to grow intense, but she didn't mind- she was used to it. The girl managed to reach the window sill without passing out from the torment, a huge accomplishment for an injured 7-year old. She pushed herself up using the window sill, and she finally got a good look of outside.
There were many girls; no men at all, walking about with smiles on their faces. Some were categorized into little groups and were chatting with each other. The environment that she was seeing was something she only heard from the people in the institute. The sky, colored in a lighter shade of blue than the one that she was used to, stretched out for infinity over her head, with thin wispy clouds smothered all over it; it was nice to see something different other than the dark sky that loomed upon her every day in the institute. Then there was the tree, a canopy filled with brightly pink flowers; it was the only tree she could see around. The girl stood there, gaping, captivated by its natural beauty; she noticed the little black bird hopping side-to-side playfully on one of the branches as if to say to come out and play. Upon further inspection, she realized the bird looked quite strange, with only one single eye like a cyclops, it's iris colored a deep shade of purple with a black pupil, and bits of its feathers stuck out into clumps as if it had been in a long struggle. The bird stopped, and cocked its head to the side, looking confused as fuck like me in a school test- hmmm? sorry, what was that? Anyways, the girl watched, as the bird flew to the left, towards the series of structures that occupied the place.
A slight breeze rolled into the window and brushed her face, bringing along the smell of the salty sea. It tickled her nose, and before she knew it, she felt an itchy sensation coming from her nose- she realized she was about to sneeze. She fought back the urge to sneeze; but much to her dismay, she failed and fell back to the floor with a loud thud. The girl pouted, unknowingly that the sneeze echoed around the building she was in and attracted attentions of 4 other girls. Muffled voices, followed by the sound of footsteps and the floorboards creaking were heard, approaching the girl quickly.
"She's finally awake, poi!"
"Hey! Yuudachi-chan, you're gonna bump into Yamato-san!"
"Oof!"
"Too late"
Creak,step,pause-The footsteps came to a stop in front of the door.
A moment later, the door opened, and in came a girl with straight blonde hair with a black ribbon tied on top, and probably the greenest eyes the little girl had ever seen. She stared into the girl's eyes, and started blinking; the girl giggled in a response to her cute reaction. More people came in, all three of them being female. Two of them was just about the same height as the blondie, whilst the other was a tall, voluptuous woman that had like a 'big sister' kinda aura.
"She's adorable!" One of the short ones squeaked, her eyes nothing but sparkles. The little girl flinched at the other girl's reaction and her cheeks starting to flush.
"Fubuki-chan, I think you're scaring her..." The girl with gleaming eyes- Fubuki, from what the little girl heard the other short girl mentioned, was her name.
"Ahh, sorry" 'Fubuki' apologized. The tall woman stepped up in front of 'Fubuki' and the other two girls. The little girl whimpered, seeing the massive figure of the woman towering over her- like Godzilla. She quickly backed away and eventually stopped as she banged herself against the wall. The little girl hissed, feeling the pain again.
"Oh my, are you ok?" The woman crouched down to the little girl's level and started stroking her extensive brush of black hair in an attempt to calm her down.
"My name is Yamato" Yamato introduced herself, getting into a more comfortable sitting position. She pointed towards the blondie. "That's Yuudachi"
"Hello! Sorry for scaring you, poi!" Yuudachi smiled and waved at the little girl.
Yamato pointed towards Fubuki. "This is Fubuki" The sparkles in Fubuki's eyes had not died down yet.
"And this is Mutsuki" The last girl simply smiled in response. "Now that you know our name, is it ok if you can tell us your name?"
The little girl looked at Yamato, a puzzled look settling onto her face. A name...she mulls at the thought- what was her name? did she even have a name? Then, something came into her mind; the name the people in the institute kept on calling her, both the white coats and the Origins.
"Des...tiny..." The now-named Destiny responded, a smile stretching across her face.
(A/N):Soooo, for any casual readers of mine, I'm not discontinuing 'The Flames Will Be Our Savior'.This fanfiction, I might set a dark tone, and might contain lots of 'sinking'. Next chapter, I might explain where Destiny comes from, or how she got that name, butidkyet.
After I post this chapter, the next one that I will post will be The Flames Will Be Our Savior; and also, I'm gonna have a week break in writing cause' I have this dumb project that I have to finish 2 weeks time.
Don't forget to leave honestfeedback,and constructive reviews.