Obligatory disclaimer: I do not own the setting, nor do I own Selphie. Those are property of Squaresoft.
Selphie stared down at her desk, and at the worksheet on it. Her room was small and utilitarian, with little besides a bed and a desk in it. Out her window, snow was falling on the Trabia landscape, as the sun sat off behind a mountain in the west. She frowned, thought "This might take some time. On the bright side, its my entire assignment, and most of this stuff is review," picked up her pencil and calculator, and began to work, talking quietly to herself, her mind completely focused. "Sine of 61 degrees... Hmm, can't do anything more on this figure." She moved her focus over to a hexagon. "Draw a line here to form a right triangle, calculate ratio of these two sides. Three sides ratioed, only seventeen to go." Her train of thought was interruped by Ternif, one of her friends. Ternif was a year younger than her, at sixteen. He wasn't bad-looking, his dark violet eyes barely peeking out from his dark red hair, and he was only a couple inches taller than her, although Selphie didn't think of him as a potential boyfriend, but only because she didn't think of anyone that way. "Um... Selphie?-" Selphie didn't even turn from her assignment to speak to her friend, instead simply snapping "Don't interrupt my homework!" Ternif tried to continue, more afraid now "Selphie, I was wondering... uh, hmmm... I mean..." "Busy, Ternif!" "I needed a, er, date for the hmm, Garden Festival, and I was uh-" Selphie cut him off "the Garden Festival is stupid. I'm not going, so don't ask me." She turned back to her review. "Hmmm... I can get this side here, with what I have. I can also get this one. Hmmm, that gives me this angle. Now I've got this angle..." She continued her thoughts, barely speaking them out loud, making it plainly obvious to Ternif that she wasn't paying attention. He stayed in her doorway, which she had neglected to leave closed when she started her work, and pouted.
About 20 minutes later
"Finished! BOOYAKA! Weapons practice time." She stood, turned, and saw Ternif, still pouting, still standing in her doorway. "Okay! Fine! I'll go with you to the stupid Garden Festival! Happy now?" Ternif's face brightened, and he wrapped his arms around Selphie, hugging her tightly "Thankyouthankyou Selphie." Selphie squirmed a little "Okay, Ternif, you don't need to hug me this long." He loosened his grip, and told her "thank you, Selphie. You don't know how happy you made me." Selphie decided to hug him "you're welcome, Ternif. I need to practice my weapon skills right now, so if you'll let go of me..." She released him from her hug, and he released her. "Selphie, I'm a bit behind in my weapons practice. Do you have the time for a spar or two?" "Sure, I can spar against you."
The two went down to a snowy courtyard, Sephie with her oversized nunchaku, and Ternif with his pole axe. The two faced eachother, and readied their weapons. Selphie thought for a second of the cold, and the snowflakes falling on her, and her new white jacket. A second later, a poleaxe blade came at her. She ducked under, and spun. A red-painted wooden rod flew out, attached by a chain to its twin in Selphie's hand. Selphie tugged it back, and it barely grazed Ternif's boot. "One blow landed for me." The two faced eachother again, and Selphie again swung one of the rods she held, releasing the other. This time, their connecting chain wrapped around a long wooden pole, and when she jerked her weapon closer, Ternif's poleaxe fell from his hand. "Selphie, why can't you let me win one? Show me what I'm doing right." "Fine, I'll show you." The two stood apart again, although this time Selphie dropped her nunchaku in the snow. This time, he swung his poleaxe at Selphie, and she ducked down, to dodge the back of the axe. Just because it was blunt didn't mean losing didn't hurt. She waited as it came, and a split-second later, she jumped. It came back, and she stepped away. He thrust, and the tip hit Selphie, pushing into her flesh, although not breaking her skin. "There. You won one. You need to work on hitting with the axe."
Selphie faced away from him, off at the Garden's walls that surrounded her, and swung her weapon, sending half the nunchaku off into the snow, then back to her, wrapping around her body, and back out again. She caught it on its way back, and switched ends. This dance continued a while, the staff going where-ever she wanted it to, anywhere around her. Ternif practiced his thrusts and swings, and stopping at various points in the swing. Selphie continued her practice, and soon Xanea came by. "Hey Selphie! Nice to see you! Ternif, hi. Manage to convince Selphie to go with you?" "Yeah, I got her to go with me." "I'm so happy for you two! Want to go skating with me? The lake's nice." "Sorry Xanea, I'm busy right now. I need my weapon practice." Xanea muttered to herself "Yeah, Hyne forbid Selph get anything less than top of her class in martial." Selphie pretended not to hear, and continued batting snowflakes. Xanea was blonde, a foot taller than Selphie, and perpetually happy. Although they were friends, she was irritating at times. Also, she was a tireless matchmaker, despite the fact that many of the people she was matchmaking for didn't want her help. Yet, for some reason, Selphie thought of her as a good friend. Xanea was in her martial arts class, a mixture of armed and unarmed martial arts (mostly armed), with a diverse array of weapons.
Xanea said "I'm going to see if Calire is busy, then we'll go down to the lake." Calire was another of Selphie's circle. She was in a class for longer-ranged weapons, with a harpoon gun. When she needed to work, she was serious, although less so than Selphie. She got the minimum done, plus more if she cared to, then lightened up and found something fun to do, caring little about her work. In that way, she was mostly normal. She was short, even for a girl, thin, and weak. Her element was not battle, but surrounded by people. In the social situations Selphie avoided, focusing on her work, she shined. Without her friends, she was just a weak girl, unlike Selphie, who could care less.
The three of them went off to the frozen lake, leaving Selphie alone with her weapon, in the snow. Her short, dark hair was turning white with snow on top, although around the edges she was shaking the snow off. She didn't care. In other places it wsa wet. She focused on her work, ignoring the cold as she spun, and her nunchaku danced. She was able to keep this up without thinking once she started, which gave her time for contemplation. When she hadn't been ignoring the cold, back when, she had liked it. It was part of the charm of Trabia. She vaguely remembered a place far away, where it had been warmer. She thought back to her geography classes. Centra... A desolate archipelago in the far south. Covered in silt deposited by the seas and by the jungle that once was there before the last lunar cry, and scorched by the sun so that now there was little vegetation. Yes, that was it. She didn't know why she remembered Centra, or that small stone building there. All she knew was that she loved Trabia.
She and her nunchaku stopped their dance. She was beginning to feel the cold. She went into the garden, and headed for the cafeteria. She bought herself a cup of hot chocolate, took a seat at one of the tables, alone, and began to think about her friends, and the upcoming Garden Festival. It was monday. The Festival was friday. She had four more days to prepare. In the mean time, there was an essay she had to have in by monday on the Sorceress Wars. She was already on her fifth draft, but it was far from perfect, in her eyes. Only four more days to perfect it! On the other hand, her friends were all skating. She weighed her choices. "Work on an essay, or go skating... I only have four more days to perfect it, but, on the other hand, everyone's skating. Hmmm... I'm always harder on my essays than Miss Ciltar is. But, I still need to get it to be the best I can write." As she sipped her drink, the sugar and caffeine began to take a hold of her mind "I'm sure I'll be able to perfect my essay later. Its close enough to earn top marks anyway." She went back to her dorm, deposited her nunchaku back in her closet, and grabbed her ice skates.
She walked out, and reached the lake, alone. Her three best friends were skating circles around eachother. Xanea had, evidently, grabbed some snow from the side of the lake, and started throwing it at people. Selphie stepped onto the lake, changed into her skates, and began to skate. She dodged one of Xanea's snowballs, and threw one of her own back. Ternif got her in the back, and she grabbed some snow as she sailed in close to the shore of the lake. She packed it into a pair of snowballs, and tossed one at Calire. She circled around her, and hit Ternif in the arm, knocking one of his snowballs free. Xanea jumped high, spun 720 degrees, and landed, continuing in her path, dodging one of Calire's snowballs, although she didn't need to; it fell short by a couple yards. Selphie swung close to the snow again, and grabbed herself another pair of snowballs, sculpting them in her hands as she dodged. She swung close to Ternif, and tossed one at him. Despite the fact that she knew it was the sugar talking, Selphie enjoyed this fight, and put the history essay to the back of her mind.
Pronunciation of names:
Ternif: turn-if
Xanea: zane (rhymes with Jane)-ee-uh
Calire: kay-lear
Will be continued when I feel like it. R&R. Next chapter will focus on the perspective of someone involved in a conspiracy, one that will lead to this Selphie becoming the one we all know and love.
Selphie stared down at her desk, and at the worksheet on it. Her room was small and utilitarian, with little besides a bed and a desk in it. Out her window, snow was falling on the Trabia landscape, as the sun sat off behind a mountain in the west. She frowned, thought "This might take some time. On the bright side, its my entire assignment, and most of this stuff is review," picked up her pencil and calculator, and began to work, talking quietly to herself, her mind completely focused. "Sine of 61 degrees... Hmm, can't do anything more on this figure." She moved her focus over to a hexagon. "Draw a line here to form a right triangle, calculate ratio of these two sides. Three sides ratioed, only seventeen to go." Her train of thought was interruped by Ternif, one of her friends. Ternif was a year younger than her, at sixteen. He wasn't bad-looking, his dark violet eyes barely peeking out from his dark red hair, and he was only a couple inches taller than her, although Selphie didn't think of him as a potential boyfriend, but only because she didn't think of anyone that way. "Um... Selphie?-" Selphie didn't even turn from her assignment to speak to her friend, instead simply snapping "Don't interrupt my homework!" Ternif tried to continue, more afraid now "Selphie, I was wondering... uh, hmmm... I mean..." "Busy, Ternif!" "I needed a, er, date for the hmm, Garden Festival, and I was uh-" Selphie cut him off "the Garden Festival is stupid. I'm not going, so don't ask me." She turned back to her review. "Hmmm... I can get this side here, with what I have. I can also get this one. Hmmm, that gives me this angle. Now I've got this angle..." She continued her thoughts, barely speaking them out loud, making it plainly obvious to Ternif that she wasn't paying attention. He stayed in her doorway, which she had neglected to leave closed when she started her work, and pouted.
About 20 minutes later
"Finished! BOOYAKA! Weapons practice time." She stood, turned, and saw Ternif, still pouting, still standing in her doorway. "Okay! Fine! I'll go with you to the stupid Garden Festival! Happy now?" Ternif's face brightened, and he wrapped his arms around Selphie, hugging her tightly "Thankyouthankyou Selphie." Selphie squirmed a little "Okay, Ternif, you don't need to hug me this long." He loosened his grip, and told her "thank you, Selphie. You don't know how happy you made me." Selphie decided to hug him "you're welcome, Ternif. I need to practice my weapon skills right now, so if you'll let go of me..." She released him from her hug, and he released her. "Selphie, I'm a bit behind in my weapons practice. Do you have the time for a spar or two?" "Sure, I can spar against you."
The two went down to a snowy courtyard, Sephie with her oversized nunchaku, and Ternif with his pole axe. The two faced eachother, and readied their weapons. Selphie thought for a second of the cold, and the snowflakes falling on her, and her new white jacket. A second later, a poleaxe blade came at her. She ducked under, and spun. A red-painted wooden rod flew out, attached by a chain to its twin in Selphie's hand. Selphie tugged it back, and it barely grazed Ternif's boot. "One blow landed for me." The two faced eachother again, and Selphie again swung one of the rods she held, releasing the other. This time, their connecting chain wrapped around a long wooden pole, and when she jerked her weapon closer, Ternif's poleaxe fell from his hand. "Selphie, why can't you let me win one? Show me what I'm doing right." "Fine, I'll show you." The two stood apart again, although this time Selphie dropped her nunchaku in the snow. This time, he swung his poleaxe at Selphie, and she ducked down, to dodge the back of the axe. Just because it was blunt didn't mean losing didn't hurt. She waited as it came, and a split-second later, she jumped. It came back, and she stepped away. He thrust, and the tip hit Selphie, pushing into her flesh, although not breaking her skin. "There. You won one. You need to work on hitting with the axe."
Selphie faced away from him, off at the Garden's walls that surrounded her, and swung her weapon, sending half the nunchaku off into the snow, then back to her, wrapping around her body, and back out again. She caught it on its way back, and switched ends. This dance continued a while, the staff going where-ever she wanted it to, anywhere around her. Ternif practiced his thrusts and swings, and stopping at various points in the swing. Selphie continued her practice, and soon Xanea came by. "Hey Selphie! Nice to see you! Ternif, hi. Manage to convince Selphie to go with you?" "Yeah, I got her to go with me." "I'm so happy for you two! Want to go skating with me? The lake's nice." "Sorry Xanea, I'm busy right now. I need my weapon practice." Xanea muttered to herself "Yeah, Hyne forbid Selph get anything less than top of her class in martial." Selphie pretended not to hear, and continued batting snowflakes. Xanea was blonde, a foot taller than Selphie, and perpetually happy. Although they were friends, she was irritating at times. Also, she was a tireless matchmaker, despite the fact that many of the people she was matchmaking for didn't want her help. Yet, for some reason, Selphie thought of her as a good friend. Xanea was in her martial arts class, a mixture of armed and unarmed martial arts (mostly armed), with a diverse array of weapons.
Xanea said "I'm going to see if Calire is busy, then we'll go down to the lake." Calire was another of Selphie's circle. She was in a class for longer-ranged weapons, with a harpoon gun. When she needed to work, she was serious, although less so than Selphie. She got the minimum done, plus more if she cared to, then lightened up and found something fun to do, caring little about her work. In that way, she was mostly normal. She was short, even for a girl, thin, and weak. Her element was not battle, but surrounded by people. In the social situations Selphie avoided, focusing on her work, she shined. Without her friends, she was just a weak girl, unlike Selphie, who could care less.
The three of them went off to the frozen lake, leaving Selphie alone with her weapon, in the snow. Her short, dark hair was turning white with snow on top, although around the edges she was shaking the snow off. She didn't care. In other places it wsa wet. She focused on her work, ignoring the cold as she spun, and her nunchaku danced. She was able to keep this up without thinking once she started, which gave her time for contemplation. When she hadn't been ignoring the cold, back when, she had liked it. It was part of the charm of Trabia. She vaguely remembered a place far away, where it had been warmer. She thought back to her geography classes. Centra... A desolate archipelago in the far south. Covered in silt deposited by the seas and by the jungle that once was there before the last lunar cry, and scorched by the sun so that now there was little vegetation. Yes, that was it. She didn't know why she remembered Centra, or that small stone building there. All she knew was that she loved Trabia.
She and her nunchaku stopped their dance. She was beginning to feel the cold. She went into the garden, and headed for the cafeteria. She bought herself a cup of hot chocolate, took a seat at one of the tables, alone, and began to think about her friends, and the upcoming Garden Festival. It was monday. The Festival was friday. She had four more days to prepare. In the mean time, there was an essay she had to have in by monday on the Sorceress Wars. She was already on her fifth draft, but it was far from perfect, in her eyes. Only four more days to perfect it! On the other hand, her friends were all skating. She weighed her choices. "Work on an essay, or go skating... I only have four more days to perfect it, but, on the other hand, everyone's skating. Hmmm... I'm always harder on my essays than Miss Ciltar is. But, I still need to get it to be the best I can write." As she sipped her drink, the sugar and caffeine began to take a hold of her mind "I'm sure I'll be able to perfect my essay later. Its close enough to earn top marks anyway." She went back to her dorm, deposited her nunchaku back in her closet, and grabbed her ice skates.
She walked out, and reached the lake, alone. Her three best friends were skating circles around eachother. Xanea had, evidently, grabbed some snow from the side of the lake, and started throwing it at people. Selphie stepped onto the lake, changed into her skates, and began to skate. She dodged one of Xanea's snowballs, and threw one of her own back. Ternif got her in the back, and she grabbed some snow as she sailed in close to the shore of the lake. She packed it into a pair of snowballs, and tossed one at Calire. She circled around her, and hit Ternif in the arm, knocking one of his snowballs free. Xanea jumped high, spun 720 degrees, and landed, continuing in her path, dodging one of Calire's snowballs, although she didn't need to; it fell short by a couple yards. Selphie swung close to the snow again, and grabbed herself another pair of snowballs, sculpting them in her hands as she dodged. She swung close to Ternif, and tossed one at him. Despite the fact that she knew it was the sugar talking, Selphie enjoyed this fight, and put the history essay to the back of her mind.
Pronunciation of names:
Ternif: turn-if
Xanea: zane (rhymes with Jane)-ee-uh
Calire: kay-lear
Will be continued when I feel like it. R&R. Next chapter will focus on the perspective of someone involved in a conspiracy, one that will lead to this Selphie becoming the one we all know and love.