The bright glare of the early morning sun illuminated New York City, the blinding light decorated by soft, fluffy looking clouds and surrounded by a gentle blue sky, stretching out far into the horizon.
It was too early in the day for the sun to be high in the sky, the bottom of the large sphere barely above the taller skyscrapers in the distance. Shops below had started to open, cars had started to full the streets and people had started to litter the sidewalk.
Two pairs of green eyes peered down on the city from above, sitting on one of the lower buildings in the area. The building itself was rather small, tiny one-bedroom apartments and tiny stores inside, hence the small size.
To Diamond and Ivy, the small rooftop covering it was perfect. They'd figured out which space was the most sheltered from the rain by the taller buildings that surrounded it, since they had no actual roof, and they'd settled there.
A few locks of wavy black hair moved forwards as Diamond shifted to sit on her knees. "Wao," she murmured, the Japanese for 'wow' slipping easily from her tongue. "I forgot just how quiet this town can get."
Mmmrow! Diamond looked over to Ivy, the female brown tabby's green eyes gazing into her own of the same colour. She reached out and stroked the two year old cat softly on the neck, the tabby's favourite place for the girl's hand to run over. She smiled before tilting her hand down. Ivy got the message and opened her mouth as Diamond used the water element to make the cool liquid trickle into the cat's open jaws, each drop simply appearing out of thin air. When Ivy had had enough, Diamond did the same for herself. It saved time as well as the little amount of money that Diamond had saved.
"What do you say, girl?" Diamond asked the tabby. "Grab an apple on the way to the vets?" Ivy purred in response, leading to Diamond smiling. The teen girl said, "I'll take that as a yes." She stood up but bent over again, holding her left hand out to Ivy, palm turned skyward. Ivy understood and put her front two paws on the girl's hand. The tabby paused before running up Diamond's arm, settling around her neck with her front paws and head on the right shoulder, so her small body had comfortable yet firm hold on her. Diamond ensured the cat wouldn't fall off by using the air element before walking over to her sleeping bag. There was a small bag that you sling over your shoulder beside the sleeping bag. It contained the few belongings she had managed to save from Japan, and the few new ones she had managed to gain in New York. She unzipped one of the side-pockets, revealing the small compartment to be half filled with coins. A few were Japanese but most were American. She'd gained them by picking up random coins that had fallen out of some people's handbags or wherever they stored their cash, as well as her job.
When Diamond had arrived in New York City, she'd known she wouldn't survive easily for long, especially since she was caring for a cat. Due to this, Diamond saved up, brought a newspaper, found an advertised job that didn't really rely on mathematics, science or any school subject. She found a few more coins and used a payphone to ask for a job interview, and when she completed the interview, she somehow got the job.
The job she'd gotten wasn't anything too special. She worked at the vets that was part of a pet-store. It was located a few minutes away from her makeshift home. The amount of Japanese customers who couldn't speak much English were slowly increasing, so Diamond, knowing both languages, was a translator. Japanese to English, English to Japanese.
And she was going to be needed there in about ten minutes, so Diamond grabbed a small handful of cash and stuffed them into the one unzipped pocket out of two in her thin, grey jacket. She zipped the pocket so no coins would fall out. She then zipped up the compartment with her cash in the shoulder bag. She ran for one of the edges of the rooftop, the one on the left that lead to an alleyway. The alleyway on the other side had a wall blocking the second way out, but it did have carts of thrown out food from the cafe on one side of the building.
Diamond jumped off the edge, using the air element to float herself down to the fire escape below. When her feet touched the cold metal, she started running down the stairs. Several twists and flights of stairs passed before she reached the bottom of the line of fire escapes, which lead to her jumping again, right off the fire escape. Once again, she used the air element to float down. Her feet touched the ground within a few seconds.
Diamond reached up with her right hand, stroking Ivy a few times on her head, making the tabby purr happily. Diamond then ran to the right of the alleyway, stepping out onto the road. People were walking to the right, pulling the girl with her cat along with them. Diamond frowned as Ivy meowed, peering at her owner. Diamond petted Ivy again, and she then began to weave through the tide of people heading right, finally managing to reach the tide of people travelling to the left.
Diamond smiled and Ivy purred.
A few minutes passed before Diamond dove through both seas of travelling people and into a small fruit store. The person at the counter looked up and smiled. "Diamond! Good to see you again."
Diamond smiled. "You too, Naroli."
Diamond moved through the few isles of different types of fruit before finding the apples. She selected one apple from the cheapest 'brand' before walking back to the counter. Diamond dug into her pocket and pulled out the two and a half US dollars needed to buy the apple.
Naroli, the woman at the counter, took the money and gave Diamond her apple. "How's everything going?" She asked.
Diamond shrugged. "The usual. Gotta say, this month since I turned sixteen has been busier than the past year."
Naroli smiled. "That's usually to be expected though, isn't it?"
Diamond let a small laugh come from her mouth. "I guess. Saved a few more dollars from last week's paycheck." Ivy let out a small meow which lead to Diamond holding her hand out for Ivy to climb down. Ivy did just that, and she purred as Naroli stroked her briefly.
After half a minute, Ivy climbed up and positioned herself around Diamond's neck again. "I'd love to chat, but I've got to get to work," Diamond admitted.
Naroli nodded. "Understood. See you again some time."
Diamond smiled and waved before walking back out the door. She made it back to the people walking left in time to cross at a set of traffic lights. She stepped back on the pavement just as the lights went green, and cars began to drive right where she had been just a few seconds ago. Diamond started to eat the apple, hoping it would be finished when she arrived at work.
The doors to the pet shop had been open for a few minutes by the time Diamond arrived. Quickly, the elemental teenager threw her apple into the bin just outside the door. She walked through the sliding door and was met with the smell of several animals and the sounds of several animals calling out. Three people stood at the store counter. A few people roamed the isles and stood looking through windows at animals they might want to buy. Diamond paused at the cats like she always did, but kept going until she reached the back of the store, where the vets were located.
The lady at the counter for the vets, their name Cathy, looked up. Their straight brown hair was let loose around her face and shoulders, gentle brown eyes, slightly tanned skin and freckles giving off a beautiful look.
"Hi Diamond!" She said happily.
"Hi Cathy," Diamond said, equally as happy. Cathy was a friend of hers, and one of two who knew of her elemental powers. Cathy's parents had pulled her out of high school early so she could start earning money. That decision her parents had made had lead to her working at the vets. She worked there most days of the week save for Wednesday and Sunday. Wednesdays were a 'reliever' day, where a different person worked at the counter while she got a rest at home-although, Cathy was usually practising at the tennis courts instead. Both the pet shop and the vets were always closed on Sunday. It was a Tuesday, so of course, Cathy and her cheery smile were waiting for any customers.
"It's good to see you," Cathy announced. "One, because you're my friend, two, because a Japanese customer that will need a translator is scheduled for an appointment in..." Cathy clicked the mouse a few times, pulling up a screen with several tables with all the scheduled appointments listed. "...ten minutes!" She then stood up as Diamond let herself in behind the counter. "And Ivy's as cute as ever!" She stroked Ivy's neck, earning a few loud purrs from the brown tabby.
Diamond smiled. "Oh yes, she is. Where's Lilly by the way?"
Lilly was the Chinese translator, Lilly being the name she used in America since her Chinese one would be difficult to pronounce. The amount of Chinese customers was far higher than Japanese ones, so the Chinese girl's pay was, of course, much higher.
Cathy stepped back from petting Ivy to reply, "Some Chinese woman had an appointment first thing with their brother's budgie. Anyway, how are your powers coming along?"
Diamond checked nobody was listening before answering, "Good enough. I-"
The two friends were interrupted by the telephone ringing.
"One sec," Cathy announced, picking up the phone. "Hello?" She listened for a response but straightened, holding the phone out to Diamond.
"Is it a Japanese person?" Diamond asked, earning a nod from her friend. She gave Ivy a pat with her right hand, using her left one to take the phone. "Moshi moshi?"
"Moshi moshi," the person on the other end of the line replied.
The two Japanese speakers started a conversation. Cathy sat down in-front of the computer as Diamond talked to the foreign caller. Cathy was fascinated yet confused at the same time. She had no clue what her friend was talking about. Should her father have been there, he would have asked, 'What is she speaking? Gibberish?'
"Hai, arigato. Sayonara," Diamond finished the conversation before hanging up.
"What does that mean again?" Cathy asked.
"The last part?" Diamond said. "Yes, thank you. Goodbye. Anyway," she continued, grabbing the mouse and placing one hand over the keyboard. "Someone called 'Chowa' wanted an appointment at quarter past eleven."
Diamond may have been living on a roof for a year and a half, but she had previous experience with computers, so she knew how to operate one. Ivy peered at the screen curiously as Diamond typed 'Chowa', the name of the pet that Chowa had wanted to be checked over and the time their appointment would be into the timetable.
"Konnichiwa?"
Both Diamond's and Cathy's heads snapped up at the Japanese greeting, Diamond immediately responding with, "Konnichiwa! Onamae wa nandesu ka?"
"Hoshi," was their response to Diamond's question. (Translation to Diamond's sentence, 'What is your name?')
"Diamond," Diamond introduced herself. She pointed to the tabby on her shoulders and added, "Koreha Ivy."
The clock hit half past twelve, which meant no more foreign customers were to come to the vets.
It also meant Diamond was free to do whatever she pleased.
She'd said her goodbyes to Cathy, who had given Diamond two cups of cat biscuits (placed inside a plastic bag) so she could feed Ivy before she walked out of the pet store, said cat still riding along on her shoulders. The elemental teenager was walking to one of her favorite lunch places. She usually ignored the endless rows of cafes and kept going into the more Asian community. There was a particularly delicious traditional dish (That didn't cut into her small money supply very much) she loved to have at a noodle shop owned and run by a man called 'Murakami'-who was also the second person who knew of her powers.
When she walked in, three people were already sitting around and eating. Pizza gyoza was in-front of a woman and what Diamond assumed was her child-the latter resembled the former greatly. One man sat a few barstools away.
Diamond gave a small wave to the child when they turned and waved cheerily. She walked up beside the man. "Hello Murakami."
"Diamond-chan!" The blind chef greeted. "It is good to hear from you again."
"Good to visit again," Diamond replied, taking a seat on the vacant barstool she had been standing next to. She ordered the usual meal and waited for the bowl to be placed in-front of her. When it did get served, the man next to her stood up and left, only leaving the correct amount of coins to pay for his meal. Murakami took the coins and the dishes left behind as Diamond pulled her bowl closer to her. Ivy mewed softly.
"I know girl," Diamond murmured. "I've got your dinner. I'll give it to you when we get home." Ivy settled back down as Diamond put her hands together and bowed, murmuring, "Itadakimasu."
The food in the bowl disappeared slowly before Diamond finally stood up, digging into her pocket where she'd stuffed some cash into. She fished out the correct coins to pay for the meal before saying, "Goodbye Murakami. Good to see you."
The sun was just past the half-way mark in the sky, casting hot rays of light into the city when Diamond left the shop. She joined the groups of people in the busy streets, some who were wearing fashionable sunglasses, some who didn't even care about how they looked. One group of friends Diamond and Ivy pushed past were drinking smoothies out of take-out cups. They looked at Ivy and a few awwws and 'What a cute kitty!' were said in the tabby's direction, but neither turned their heads as they continued for their rooftop.
When Diamond saw the sign for the cafe most of the bottom floor was taken up by, Diamond smiled, crossed the road at the nearest traffic lights, and dashed for the alleyway. This time, Diamond didn't bother to use the fire escapes. She tensed her arms and raised them slowly, using the air element to start floating herself up to the rooftop. Her feet lifted up off the ground, continuing to float up until they landed on the roof.
Diamond sighed, smiling, and looked around. Everything was just as she had left it in the morning. She let Ivy climb down from her body before sitting down, cross-legged, on her sleeping bag.
"What has life thrown at me so far," Diamond muttered. "Bullies, moving, new schools, new cultures, earthquakes, a tsunami, living on the streets in New York..." She pursed her lips and glanced down at her hands as she added, "Powers..."
She frowned before announcing loudly to nobody in particular, "Bring it on!"
Hello there, fabulous reader! Thank you so much for reading the first chapter of Chasing Diamond- every single read is super precious and I'm so happy you're giving me a chance *hugs*
If you'd like to help me, leave a review- I'd love to hear any feedback you have for me! I'm always open to new ideas (And always open to the opportunity of finding new friends :D) It also encourages me, and it's telling me you appreciate my work! Thank you for your time, and have a fabulous day! :D