BANG!

Darkness clouded my vision and my head started pulsating. Rubbing my forehead I tried opening my eyes, concrete grazing my knees. I groped around for my sword which I located and sheathed. I felt fur brush past my arm and I turned to my side. Good, Blacktip was okay. My little snow-white fox stumbled in front of me, his black-tipped tail thudding the floor.

I stroked his silky fur, judging my surroundings. 'Where do you think we've ended up this time?' Many houses lined the streets beside tall business buildings. Judging by the glowing streetlights and non-lit sky, I guessed it was some early time in the morning. Down the road, a supermarket-looking shop had its lights on, probably on late night shift.

Blacktip had noticed it too and looked at me questioningly.

In reply, I shrugged and lifted myself off the ground. As an aero-kinetic, I found amusement in dusting or drying myself off completely. I simply put my fists together and let out my air. It's never easy to explain how an aero-kinetic performs moves, but let's just say I was no longer dusty.

I began my venture down the road to the supermarket-like building, Blacktip at my feet. The streetlights flickered as we passed each in turn, as if they welcomed us into this foreign town. There was a lot of sky to be seen above, but the stars were hidden by the streetlights' shine. At last, the supermarket, which was indeed a supermarket, was there in front of us. Its automatic doors slid open as we entered their sensor field. It was a small shop, just enough to suit the townspeople's needs.

There was a young-ish lady, probably seventeen or eighteen, leaning over the counter, deep in slumber. Attempting not to disturb her, I fished out a local newspaper from a basket beside the counter. The date in the top right-hand corner stated it was the '17th of May, 2014'. I let out a sigh of relief, glad we hadn't either gone back or forth in time. I skim-read the front page but couldn't make out which name was the town I was currently in. Multiple titles kept cropping up but without a clue it was hard to know which was what.

A rustle of plastic caused me to stop reading. Blacktip had been rummaging through the shelves and made a mess of packaged cooking ingredients.

Blacktip! I called to him telepathically, urging him to not awaken the sleeping shopkeeper. Trying my best to tidy up the shelf, I wondered how many hours there were left 'til sunrise. Surely there would be a clock in here somewhere.

After a few minutes of searching the shop, I found only one clock, well, watch – the shopkeeper's watch. Awkwardly, I leaned on the counter, trying to position myself to get a clear view of the analogue face. 6:15 it said, presumably in the morning. Not long later the sun will rise and the townsfolk with be up, bustling about their daily routine, and I, a humble intruder will…search for clues.

I left the little shop, amazed I hadn't once woken up the young lady. Wandering about town, the sun gradually took its place in the sky. I came to many corners and a few roundabouts, blindly taking a random route. Lights switched on in many houses and the streetlights began to dim in brightness. Finally, the town had awoken.

The sun was high in the sky now, its rays touching every piece of land it could find. After going 'round and 'round the area, I began memorising its layout, realising the neighbourhood was relatively small. I made my way back to the largest building I had seen. It was probably as big as the mansion I once called home, but those days have come and gone now.

I heard footsteps around the corner I had just come by. On instinct, I hid behind a nearby tree, just wide enough to conceal my whole body. As the footsteps grew louder, I peeked around the corner, careful to keep myself hidden.

Blacktip, shush! I urged the little creature who was clawing at the tree. He backed up behind me as the person came into view. It was the shopkeeper, her long hair, pale-green-blonde in colour, streaming behind her revealing her elven ears. She was wide awake now as she raced up the path, her apron still on her.

Blacktip made to follow but I stopped him, sensing that we'd have another encounter not very long later.

iShe could tell us where we are. Blacktip pointed out.

But she's in a hurry, we shouldn't disturb her.

We waited on a bench in front of the brick walls of the large building. An hour had probably passed since the girl ran past and there were still no signs of life, at least around this part of town.

'Do you think no one comes around here?' I questioned Blacktip, who lay on the bench beside me as I stroked his fur.

Maybe, but the building behind us looks like some type of hall or gathering place. He replied.

'Mm, well, why don't we try to find that girl again? It's better than sitting and doing nothing.' I suggested. Jumping to my feet, I added, 'She might even give us something to-'

'Watch out!'

'Huh?!'

'OUCH!'

Great, two blows to my head in one day.

'Sorry miss, are you o…kay?'

Rubbing my head, I looked up to see a red-haired boy, somewhere around my age. He reminded me of my childhood sweetheart, Aaron, except this boys' hair was so much spikier.

He had a hand extended to me, but I couldn't take it. I couldn't escape his gaze on me as if he'd seen an angel, which was definitely something I wasn't. Oh no, it must be my ears he's staring at, and my tail. I'd almost forgotten they'd existed. I was bitten by Blacktip a good six years ago and that caused me to mutate into what's called a kitsune, a humanoid fox who could also transform into a fox at will. My pointed pale-pink ears and my white-tipped tail must stick out so much and that's what the boy must be staring at, surely.

Amelia, Amelia!

'Oh!' Thank God Blacktip existed! Without him I would've been staring at this red-head 'til one of us made a move. 'U-um, sorry, heheh, um-'

'Oh, don't worry, um...' We both awkwardly laughed, trying to make it seem like nothing happened at all. He helped me up and scratched the back of his head, attempting to hide his rosy-cheeked face.

Dusting off my skirt for the second time that day - this time without using any aero-kinetics - I hauled up my fox companion into my arms to serve as a distraction for my sweaty palms. We stood there uneasily trying not to look at each other. I couldn't stop myself from continuously glancing in his direction. Every time I did, I noticed something new. He wore a blue school-boy uniform and a large red backpack. He was at least five centimetres taller than me, and that wasn't including his hair that rose another ten centimetres off his head.

I saw him glance my way and for a second our eyes met, but I made myself look at Blacktip to avoid eye contact. I was about to say something to break the awkward silence, when I heard him gasp. Looking up at the red-head, I saw he was staring at Blacktip, then at my hair and my clothes and my ears and tail, and then back to Blacktip.

A smile began to spread across his face and his eyes lit up. 'Are you related to Ara Haan?' he exclaimed a little too loudly.

I forced a chuckle, completely bewildered. 'Excuse me?'

'Yeah, you've got long black hair, well brown, and a fox, you almost look exactly like her!' His eyes kept darting over all the features of my body adding to my discomfort.

'I-I think you're mistaken, I um-' I paused, wondering whether I should tell this complete stranger how I got here or tell him something entirely incorrect.

'Never mind, come with me, I'll explain everything.'

'What?' But he'd already grabbed my arm, allowing me to use only one arm to hold my little fox.

The boy led me into the large building, past the brick wall and into its halls. Seeming to know the place well, he took me up several flights of stairs and eventually we ended up on the rooftop. He let go of my arm and went to lean on the green railing. I watched him from a few steps behind, expecting him to say something.

What do you think he wants to explain? I asked Blacktip, hugging him close.

No idea, but be on the offensive in case he tries anything funny. His reply confused me. What could this boy do with no weapon and at the top of a roof? He couldn't even push me off from where I was standing.

I was about to say something yet again, but he cut me off by turning around and saying, 'The name's Elsword and this is RubenHigh School in RubenVillage. I thought you looked like Ara Haan 'cause, oh, hang on, I've got a picture somewhere.' He knelt down with his bag in front of him. He searched through the front pocket and pulled out a little book. Walking up to me, he flicked through the pages. 'Here, see? She's our newest team member and our headmaster always provides us with a picture of each member.'

He was right; I beared a striking resemblance to this Ara Haan girl. Her hair was jet black and double the length of mine, falling to her ankles with a portion tied in a side ponytail. Her eyes were a lot cuter than mine as mine were pointy which people say looked girly. Connected to her hair-tie was a stuffed fox plushie, approximately the size of her face.

'The only real difference is your clothes and hair.' Elsword commented.

'Could I look through the book?' I asked as kindly as I could.

'Um, sure, I guess.' he replied, handing me the book, spots of colour rising to his cheeks again.

I took a seat on the floor cross-legged with Blacktip on one side and Elsword on the other. I flipped back to page one where Elsword was posed ready to battle, blood-red sword in hand and clad in red, white, black and silver armour. Beneath his name wrote 'Class - Lord Knight.'

I saw the real him notice my confusion and he explained. 'Our school isn't a normal school. We're taught maths and English and stuff, but those are taught in lower grades. I'm seventeen so I'm already in second year training. You can choose from three different classes from six different battle styles.' he gestured to hand the book to him, and I did so. He turned to the last page where a table was pasted in. Elsword proceeded to teach me how to read the table and its confusing contents. There was knighthood, magician, archer, beast and nasod. From there, each one extended to a class as Elsword had said and each class had one other extension.

'Ara Haan's the newest member to our guild and she's also created a new battle style - martial arts.' he paused, looking up at the sky and thinking hard about something. It reminded me of how often Aaron did so. I remembered on countless occasions, I'd say he thought way too hard sometimes. That'd usually break his concentration and he'd look at me confused, causing me to fall for him even more.

'I don't think they've made more than one class for her.' Elsword continued after his long pause, snapping me back to the present. 'She's also one year our junior which means she'll be the only one left in the guild when we leave in two years' time.' He still had that far off look, imagining the future when they'd leave.

'So, after the years of normal subjects, you get three years of training to prepare for what?' I asked, completely baffled by the fact these small town folk had a school to fight.

He looked at me like he'd forgotten I existed, but then smiled sadly and looked back at the sky. 'To prepare for our future. You see, this town is running out of money and we've been told to move out somewhere. Since this town is in the middle of nowhere, somewhere is pretty far off from here.' He paused; sorrow and hints of fear began to fill his eyes.

This was me, eight years ago, when I ran away from home. I tried to be strong, I tried to not care, but no one could ever push out all fear. 'Elsword,' I whispered empathetically, placing a hand on his leg. 'It's okay to be afraid.' For some reason, I didn't feel weird around him anymore. I'd found a connection to him, to the whole town. They were all lost.

Amelia, is there anything we can do? questioned Blacktip, his furry self climbing into my lap to pat with my free hand.

I have a strong feeling we have to, I just don't know what.

'Sorry, I got carried away.' said the knight, looking down at me.

Realising my hand was still on his leg; I pulled it back and retrieved the book, continuing to read through the pages, heat bunching up in my cheeks. I tried my best to focus on the information, but my mind persisted on darting back to what I had just done. The words and images kept dancing in front of me, blurring themselves so I hadn't a chance to see them.

'Oh um, I didn't catch your name.' Elsword said.

'Amelia Asbrey.' I replied, accepting any change of subject.

'Ah, pretty name.' he smiled, leaning back to lie down, his arms behind his head. 'I come up here every morning to clear my mind. It's great on the rooftops.'

I could see what he meant; the air was beautifully fresh up here. I placed the book on the floor as well as Blacktip. I went to lean on the railing to see a spectacular view. The whole town could be seen from the school's rooftop, save parts hidden behind tall buildings. There were people everywhere now. Majority of them were school kids heading in my direction, unbeknownst to them that I'll be the one to shape their future. I still wasn't sure how, but I knew I will, because that was the sole purpose of Blacktip and I being sent here.

'You're thinking too hard,' Elsword was leaning over the railing with his back, squinting up at me as if trying to read my thoughts.

'No I'm not; I'm just admiring the view.' I replied, my cheeks burning again. How can it be, that this boy be somehow so alike to Aaron. His behaviour, his hair, his knighthood and even the way he spoke reminded me of Aaron.

I saw his eyebrows lift in the corner of my eye. 'Your eyes are pink!'

And that's when I lost it. 'You're joking! You hadn't noticed something so plainly in sight? Did you miss my ears and tail too?!'

He immediately hopped off the railing and at looked me all over again. 'Woah! You're like a fox yourself!' the boy exclaimed, reaching up to touch my ears.

Pushing his arm away, I corrected him coldly. 'A kitsune.'

'A what?'

But before I could explain any further, the door that led to the stairwell that led back down into the building, burst open to reveal a high-bun, purple-haired girl, wearing the girl version of the blue school uniform.

'ELSWORD! You're gonna be late if-' she yelled and then noticed me. She stood there with one hand still on the doorknob and the other holding her bag on her shoulder. Not moving an inch, I could see, even from my far distance, she was trying hard not to vibrate.

A second person came running up the stairs, her high sweet voice echoing. 'Aisha, slow down, why can't-' It was the shopkeeper, and now she was staring at me too. Centre of attention was never my favourite spot, nor was it Blacktip's. As soon as the second girl made her appearance, my companion had leapt into the protection of my arms, leaving the guild book alone on the floor.

I had no clue what to say. Two girls were staring at me, the intruder. The purple-haired Aisha looked like she wanted to kill me, and the other hid behind her, looking so scared she might run away at any time.

'I-'

'This is Amelia, she's transferring into here.' Elsword had saved me. Just when I thought he was an idiot, some intelligence shone through; except now I have to actually join the school. 'I found her this morning looking lost so brought her up here to show her the town.'

'Oh, well, that's fine I guess, but then you're both gonna be late.' replied Aisha. She said it in such a harsh way, it didn't seem "fine" at all.

'Elsword, I don't even have a uniform!' I whispered urgently to him.

'Don't worry, I'll make something up.' A little louder, he added, 'I'll take you to the front office and you can work it out from there, right?'

I forced a smile. 'I guess.'

He went to get the book and put it back in his bag. Hauling his bag to his shoulder, he addressed the girls. 'I'll meet you guys in homeroom; gotta help out Amelia first.'

'Sure thing, but if you're late,' Aisha turned to leave and added, 'You'll find out soon enough.' Then she left, the shopkeeper following behind.

Turning back to me, Elsword said, 'Don't worry 'bout Aisha, she's always like that. C'mon, I'll lead the way.'

'Mm.'