They called it the cloth, though it was made up of enchanted metals, but it wasn't quite armor either - just the skeleton of one, waiting for a body to rest on. It was flanked by an enormous shield and pointed sword, both fashioned after the rays of the sun. These all cast a soft glow around the chamber, which intensified as the girl approached. Leona stood before the panoply and reached out to it with one hand. Tiny rays of warm sunlight peeked out of her fingers, as if connecting her to the objects in front of her.
One day she would wear these. She took a step back and tried to imagine what that would be like. It had only been a few short weeks since she had been adopted into the Solari, and everything still felt huge and distant. This was to be hers...she was to become an image of the sun...
Shuffled footsteps broke her reverie. One of the elders, looking to start her training for the day, no doubt. Leona cleared her throat and spoke loud enough for whoever was behind her to hear. "Good morning...what are we going to do today?"
There was a squeak and a scuffle in response. Leona blinked in surprise and turned around carefully. Instead of one of the elders, there was a girl there, trying to kneel and make the symbol of the sun with her hands at the same time, all while holding a broom and a dustpan. She was dressed in the simple robe of the initiates, and the only accessory she wore was a hairband that kept her long, pale hair out of her face.
"M-my apologies, Radiant Dawn, I did not see you," the girl said, bowing her head.
This was the first person Leona had seen amongst the Solari that was around her age. "You can stand. You don't need to kneel in front of me," she said softly.
The girl got to her feet quickly, standing to the side rigidly. Leona took a few steps so that they were facing each other.
"What is your name?" Leona asked.
"Initiate Diana," the girl answered abruptly, her grip on the broom tightening.
Leona chuckled softly, which made the other relax visibly. Diana's eyes were grey like the storm clouds that frequented Mount Targon, and the familiar shade made her relax as well.
"So, what are you doing here, Diana?"
"Well..." Diana shifted from one foot to the other, twirling the broom between her hands. "I'm supposed to be sweeping this chamber. That is, if you would...allow me..."
"I'll help you," Leona said, reaching for the broom.
Diana pulled it back hesitantly. "I...this is supposed to be punishment," she said after a moment.
"Really? What for?"
"...Because I asked too many questions," Diana hung her head. "It's a habit of mine."
"That hardly seems fair," Leona said, reaching out for the broom and taking it from Diana, who didn't seem to resist. "Can you tell me about this 'cloth'?"
Diana looked at the cloth, then the other girl, and back again. "It wasn't always a cloth. Long ago, when the Solari still practiced the arts of war, they forged an armor for the Avatar of the Sun. But parts of the armor were lost when individual Avatars fell or perished. The remaining pieces were refashioned into this ceremonial cloth."
Leona swept about for a few moments before pausing to examine the panoply. "So this isn't meant to be for combat?"
"It looks like it could be," Diana ventured, stooping to brush the dust Leona had piled up into the dustpan. "It still retains all its original enchantments."
"But it doesn't look like something made for war, like a relic-weapon. I mean..." Leona crossed her arms. "Those greaves have heels. They look like they'd just get in the way."
Diana tilted her head at the cloth. "I don't know, maybe you can poke someone's eye out with them?"
Leona considered this for a moment, then placed the broom on the floor. After taking a breath in and out, she swung around in a roundhouse kick. Diana, though far enough away as to not be in any risk of getting hit, still flinched.
"...Maybe," Leona said, reassuming a standing position and putting a hand on her chin. Behind her, Diana's barely audible "Wow!" made her smile to herself.
"Can you show me how to do that?"
"What? That one's easy. Let me show you another one," Leona said, smirking as she leaned on one foot in preparation. Then she snapped her leg in a crescent kick.
...Or it would have been a crescent kick, had she not overbalanced and fallen over.
"Are you alright!?" Diana asked.
"I'm fine," Leona said, sitting up. The two of them stared at each other for a few seconds.
Then Diana started laughing, trying to cover it up with her hands.
"A friend of mine could do it a lot better," Leona admitted, laughing a bit as well.
"Please forgive me, Radiant Dawn," Diana said after she had gotten her giggling under control.
"There's no need to call me that. Go ahead and call me Leona," Leona said, holding her hand out for a handshake.
Diana's eyes widened a bit, but she nodded and took the offered hand. "Leona, then."
