Overcoming the Darkness
Last chapter's closing line:
"Hey, Abry! You still here?" Receiving no answer, she assumed Abry had already left home, likely to go bug Seifer or Hayner, which meant she could be found in the Sandlot, and failing that, up on the clock tower.
Chapter 2: Mia
She took off again, and sped by a rather large alcove on her left. Behind her, Lita suddenly heard a high pitched yelp from the area she'd just passed. She stopped, startled, and backpedalled. She slipped into the square silently and scanned the space quickly for the source of the sound. Immediately, for the area was quite bare, she saw a small black dog, couldn't have been fully grown yet, and the back of a young woman in black who was soundly smacking the puppy with a stick.
Lita gasped, horrified, and dashed over to the dog, shielding him with her body. She caught the stick with her left hand as the girl swung down again, having already started the action before Lita's sudden appearance and could not halt her momentum. Lita glared up at her. "Just what do you think you're doing!?"
The girl stared at her for a moment. Lita used the time before she responded to observe her. She had short black hair, pale skin, and very compelling eyes that were gold flecked with green. She wore very simple clothing, a long sleeved black shirt and black pants, along with what appeared to be black boots, judging from the soles and heel shape. The only thing she had that was not black was a purple and green locket around her neck, hanging from a black cord. She was lovely in a regal sort of way.
Finally, the dark girl said, "He bit me," baring her right hand, which did indeed have pinpricks indicative of small teeth printed on it. "He's my dog; I have a right to punish him as I please. If I don't get rough, he doesn't get it."
Lita stared at her, rather shocked by her response. "That's not right! You can't just beat a living creature simply because it displeased you. He's still young; he probably doesn't understand that what he did was wrong. When he does something bad, certainly you can punish him, but thwacking him repeatedly with a stick is not going to help! It's just gonna make him scared and more likely to lash out in the future!" She easily tugged the stick out of the girl's hand and threw it against the far wall, out of reach. The puppy made as if to go after it, but the leash gripped firmly in his owner's hand made movement out of the question. "Oh, you see? He wants to play. Maybe he hasn't learned that biting isn't an acceptable form of playing with humans yet."
The girl looked at the dark puppy almost thoughtfully. "…Perhaps," said she after a moment. Then she asked hesitantly, "Could…would you listen to my story, just for a moment? There may be something you could help me with."
"Hmm? Sure, I don't see why not. I'm always happy to help."
"Great! Let's go find a seat?" The girl glanced around a moment, before seeing the collection of mixed-level rooftops. She walked over to a low platform that was likely used for the sole purpose of reaching higher ones and pulled herself up onto it. She didn't seem to be very athletic, given the struggle she faced. Lita followed and jumped quite easily onto the platform, settling beside the girl.
"Um…" Lita started, looking at the ground. The puppy was hopping up and down for some reason. It didn't look like he wanted to get up with them; it appeared more like he was in pain. Then she noticed how taut the leash was. The girl hadn't slackened her grip or extended the cord at all. The dog was having difficulty breathing. "Hey, let the leash go."
"What? Why? He might run off if I do."
"Yeah, but you're choking him!"
"No, he's fine, see? He's getting air." She seemed blandly unconcerned.
Lita glared at her again, and the girl looked a little disconcerted. "Is this another one of those moral issues?" she asked. Lita gave her a confused look, and the girl sighed. But she did drop the leash, and the puppy at once began sniffing around the alcove, taking interest in everything.
The two girls sat for a couple minutes watching him react to everything, leaping back if he followed a scent and ran into a wall, treating a random rock as his sworn enemy, jumping in surprise when a butterfly landed on his nose. The black girl watched with indifference, but Lita laughed at the puppy's antics. Eventually, the dark girl spoke up.
"What I wanted to talk to you about is this…My whole life I've been around people who don't care and treat everything as something that either helps them or harms them. I'm unfamiliar with your sense of morality and have no idea why I shouldn't do things that I do. I think I'm starting to understand why everyone avoids me. It's because they follow your way of life and not mine. But I'm tired of being alone. I want people to like me, but I don't know what I'm not supposed to do in this kind of society." She looked at her hands in her lap.
"So, do you mean to say that you'd like my help in figuring these things out?" Lita suggested, intrigued. She had never met someone like this girl before and it seemed as though it may be interesting.
"Y...yes. If you could show me what I'm missing, maybe I can finally feel like I'm a part of something."
"Well, I don't see why not. Yeah, I'll help you out. Stick with me and you can watch how others react in situations I find myself in. My friends and I are guardians, of a sort. We're probably some of the best examples you can find in this world." Lita smiled. "Can't say for sure about other worlds though. I'm sure there's at least one other guy out there who's probably got stricter morals than us, but he's busy saving other worlds. Maybe you'll see him sometime." The other girl raised an eyebrow briefly but said nothing.
"Anyway, I was on my way to meet up with my friend Abry. Why don't you come along? I'm sure Abry would love to meet you." Lita jumped down and held her hand out for the girl to take. "What's your name, by the way? I'm Lita."
The girl accepted the hand and carefully slid off the platform. "My name is Mia Cleften."
"All right, then, Mia. Let's go," Lita decided cheerfully.