Mission:
Chapter seven: Legendary Bird
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There are two ways of meeting difficulties. You alter the difficulties or you alter yourself to meet them. I just want to know what all my difficulties are. So far I have a name, a few friends, a home, and nothing more. But that has gotten me no where. Is there something in the world that can change so fast that no one can see it? The way I see it, if you want a rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain
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I tired the ribbon around my wrist once again and smiled. I looked at myself one more time to remember my features and went to the door of the apartment. I slipped my shoes on, grabbed the apartment keys and headed out to find a quick job before I met everyone.
I walked down busy streets that seem to be very prosperous. I saw many markets, but none interested me. Then I noticed a neat little flower shop that caught my attention. I walked in and looked around. The smell of pollen and sweet nectar made me light up a little. I liked all the color and the life that filled the whole area. I went up to the large desk in front of the store. There was a girl about my age with blonde hair in a small neat bun. She had light blue eyes and a purple outfit and a white apron on. She had bright smile plastered on her face that make me smile a little as well.
"Welcome to the Yamanaka Flower Shop! I'm Ino Yamanaka. How may I help you today?" Ino piped out. Then there was a loud crash in the back of the store which made the happy Ino give a fierce look," Shikamaru! Choji! Be careful! I don't want daddy to find a big mess back there!" Ino looked back at me and smiled once again," you can never find good help anymore."
"That's actually why I came here…ummm… I was wondering if I could get a quick job. I just moved here and—"
"Oh! You must be that new girl everyone has been talking about!" Ino said. Wow… news spreads fast here. I though to myself.
"Yep, that's me," I tried to smile," so can I have a short job? It needs to be fast but enough to buy breakfast." Another crash came from the back and Ino took a deep breath then smiled again.
"Here take this apron and go into the back. There will be two boys doing a few things. They'll fill you in on what to do. I'm sure you can be more help then them..." Ino handed me a white apron and showed me to the back room then left back to the desk.
Like she said there were two boys carrying boxes of flowers and vases and other essentials into the room from a cart out side the back of the shop. I put on the apron and put my hands on my hips.
"Need some help?" I asked the boys who seemed to ignore me,"…Hello?" One boy with a ponytail that reminded me of a pineapple set down a box of lilies and looked at me.
"Ino sent you didn't she? ... Well I guess you can help take the boxes from that cart and bring them in here. It'll be less troublesome for Choji and me." I nodded and went to the cart out back. There were about three boxes left. All labeled vases. Great… Easy-Breakables… They probably wanted to get these ones last I sighed and carefully took one box (which I have to add was very heavy) and slowly and carefully brung then to the back room. I went back and got the second one then the third.
I plopped down on the ground and sighed, pushing away the beads of sweat that was trickling down my face. I looked at the pineapple haired boy who was sitting down and playing a game with the over height boy named Choji.
"I'm Amira…" I said breathing heavily (may I add again that those vases were REALLY heavy!!!). The boy sighed.
"Name's Shikamaru… and this is Choji" Shikamaru said pointing to Choji who had given up on the game with his friend and went to eating a bag of chips he had in his hands.
"What's next?" I said, even though I knew I was way out of shape to be lifting else. But I couldn't let these two know that, but I kinda figured Shikamaru already knew because he said that we could take a long break (also I figured that he must be one of the laziest chunin I have ever met so far that I know).
After about twenty minute, Ino came into the room. I was playing a game of chess with Shikamaru. He had won seven games out of ten. Choji was sitting there watching Shikamaru and I play, eating another bag of chips.
"Hey, girl what's your name? I forgot to ask you before." Ino said smiling and sweat dropped a little because she just had a complete stranger help at her shop.
"It's Amira." I said concentrating more on the game than talking.
"Oh, like the legendary bird!" Ino piped. I actually didn't know that a bird had that same name. It kinda just popped in my head.
"Yeah, I guess so." I said after losing another game.
"Ino, what are you talking about?" Choji said munching on a salted potato chip after he spoke.
"Well… my dad told me a story when I was young about a bird had had all elements on her side. She had all the colors of the rainbow that shined on her feathers. She was as graceful as wind, as strong as earth, more attitude and wit than fire, and more peaceful and kind as water." Ino stopped to refresh her memory.
"She sounded wonderful." I added.
"Oh, she was!" Ino smiled
"But what she do with all this power of hers?" Shikamaru asked lazily.
"I'm getting to that… after many years, men began to hunt her down and so she asked all the elements to change her into something to save her from the men that were hunting her. So they turned her into a woman of such beauty. But she was very upset because she didn't want to become what she was afraid of. So she lived as a human woman. Men would all be over her like she was a prize. She hated being a human, until one day." Ino paused for dramatic effect.
"What happened?" I ask. I was starting to like this story and I wanted to hear more.
"She went into the forest one day to pick herbs to treat the soldiers and children that came back from the war and that were sick in her village that she lived in. A man was under a tree and was badly hurt. She treated that man right there, and when she tried to leave the man asked her to marry him. She said that it was just the herds she gave him and it made him delusional, but he said that he wanted to be with the mysterious woman for the rest of his life. The man had dark onyx eyes and blue hair and he wore armor of a general. The woman said no, but she would stay the night with him in the forest so he wouldn't go after her in his condition. The man asked what her name was and she answered that her name was unknown to her. That night she had fallen in love with the mortal man, the thing she feared the most. And he named her Amira. He that the name matched her beauty and gracefulness. Amira the bird woman married the general. But her village found out that the general was a trooper of the village they were fighting and he would be killed in the middle of the forest where everyone could watch. Amira cried the night before her husband would be killed. At the killing site Amira jumped in front of her husband before the sword that would kill him hit his chest. When the sword cut into Amira she turned back into the winged creature she once was. She died there, next to her mortal husband who was set free because he was a god's husband. That night he committed suicide because he thought he could never live with out his true love by his side. And so Amira became a legendary bird, but no one really knows if the story is true or not. It was a love story that little girls would be told at night to let the spirits sleep good." Ino sighed and looked Amira who looked astonished by the story," you're lucky that your parents named you that!"
"Yeah… my parents named me that, but I never knew why. I would have to ask then when they got back from their mission."
