Vignette 3

Born for Blue Skies

It was another day at Beacon Academy, another victory for Echo in a race against the dawn light. She stood at the edge of the CCTS tower's rooftop. Beacon Academy was still fast asleep right now, but not her. She had always been an early bird, a fact that made her perfect as a hunter back home in that tiny village to the south of the Kingdom of Vale.

She shielded her eyes as the sun peeked above the horizon, bathing Remnant in its warmth and radiance. The wind picked up as she moved to the other side of the tower, gazing out at the megalopolis known as Vale, where the bulk of the kingdom's citizenry resided. She took a seat at the edge of the tower's roof, pulling in one knee as she spent the dawn minutes watching cars and airships move about. Soon, the downtown district started to liven up as well.

There was quite a sizeable strip of land separating Beacon Academy from the mega city, but that did little to stop the traffic to and from campus grounds. She spotted a number of her fellow students heading down the main promenade, making their way toward the city. There was one in particular leaving the dorms who caught her attention.

It was Lilly Schnee, the eldest yet the most innocent among the group. There was no mistaking that snow-white hair. Her getup today wasn't as casual as it normally was. The blue jeans and white t-shirt were replaced by a white and blue autumn dress and white sandals.

Echo made her way down from the tower, leaping from ledge to ledge before landing on a rooftop. She kept to high ground as she headed toward the coffee shop Lilly went to every morning. She peeked around the corner, keeping her distance, but Lilly's eyes met hers and she gave her a big smile.

"Are you trying to hide from me?" Lilly asked.

Echo played it cool, emerging from around the building and heading to her friend.

"Hey, wanna have some coffee with me?"

"Sure," Echo said with a shrug. She was more of a tea drinker, but she could try something new. After all, this was the first person she had ever made friends with at this school. It would be unbecoming of her to deny the company.

She stayed silent as Lilly continued babbling on about the different kinds of coffees out there. Echo had no idea that coffee beans could be graded as alkaline or acidic—the terms were mostly meaningless to her, in fact.

"So, what were you thinking of getting?" Lilly asked.

"Huh?" Echo said blankly.

Lilly giggled. "Uh, let's see if I can simplify it a bit. Darker roasts tend to be more bitter and you can hardly taste where the beans come from. You said you like tea, right?"

She nodded. "But I'm not really, like, how you are with coffee. I just drink tea that we used to grow in the yard."

"Is your tea usually lightly colored or dark?"

"Kinda dark."

"Oh, so you drink black teas."

"I guess." She paused. "There was this one time, though. My brothers got me some imported teas for my thirteenth birthday. I think those were all green teas."

"Oh, did they get you sakura tea?"

"I think one was sakura. I don't remember. All three they got me tasted really flowery. That's all I remember."

"Sakura tea is cherry blossom. Like, legit cherry blossom, not pomegranate tea that they call cherry. I think that's stupid."

She chuckled. "Yeah, I think one of them did taste a little like cherry."

"I'm not a huge tea drinker myself. I'm betting Xanthus and Yuan are, though, since they're from Mistral and that's where the majority of the world's tea supply comes from. Coffee's more of a Vale and Menagerie thing, although the tropical mountains in northern Vacuo also has bean farms. My old hometown also grew coffee beans, but I don't really like the taste."

"I dunno. All coffee tastes the same to me."

Lilly giggled. "You know what, I think this place does sample shots. I'm-a order us a platter."

She watched in silence as Lilly chatted with the barista in what, to Echo, sounded more like a foreign language. She recognized some of the terms, like dark roast and light roast, but everything else sounded more like chemistry than culinary arts.

"Awesome!" Lilly said, accepting the tray of coffee shots, sitting with Echo at a table outside. "Okay, whaddya wanna try first?"

Echo shrugged. "Dark roast, I guess."

"Ugh, my mom likes dark roasts. I think they're too bitter."

They both had the darkest roast on the table and Echo's face twisted in disgust. "This tastes like charcoal."

"Yeah, it does," Lilly coughed. "Okay, let's make our way down from here. My favorites are the light roasts."

Echo looked at the dark liquid in her tiny cup. "Is this oil?"

"Yeah, the beans let out a lot of oil the longer and hotter you roast them. Honestly, I think overcooking the beans really defeats a lot of the native flavor. I like the lightest roasts because you can actually taste where the beans come from. Too dark and they all taste like they come from—"

"From hell," Echo interrupted her, making her giggle. They had the second shot together. "Ugh, that's bitter, too."

"I was expecting a lot less flavor, though. This one's actually pretty good."

"Huh?" she said, incredulous.

"Yeah, I can taste a bit of...huh. It's a bit acidic."

What does that even mean? Echo wondered.

"'Kay, on to the next!"

The progression went from darkest roast to lightest. Although her palate wasn't anywhere near as sophisticated as Lilly's clearly was, she could taste some of the things that her companion was picking up. It wasn't until now that she had a word for those flavors, though. And she could definitely see that the lighter roasts were much more complex in flavor. The last one they drank after cleansing their palates was still quite bitter, but after all the dark roasts, Echo could sit through this one a lot better.

Underneath the bitterness was a sweet, almost flowery flavor. Beyond the sweetness filling her mouth, however, was an impressive aroma that was probably even more pleasant than the actual taste of the coffee.

"Wow," she said on impulse.

"Good?" Lilly said.

"This one's amazing."

"It's also my favorite. Mom's into all sorts of different coffees, from dark roasts all the way to light roasts, but I like this one the best. I think there's also something about the fact that it's pretty bitter at first, but then a floral sweetness emerges out from beneath the bitterness."

"That's what I was gonna say. It's...it's like a flower pushing its way up through the snow."

Lilly smiled. "I never thought of it that way."

"What's this coffee called?"

"There's no particular name for the blend, but they're lightly roasted beans from Patch and Menagerie, ground together very finely in a two-to-three ratio, and brewed with water that has just barely reached boiling point and then filtered through very fine, unbleached paper."

"That's...uh, I was gonna say super specific, but it's more like scientific than anything else, to be honest."

"I mean, yeah, it is a science. You kinda have to try out the different roast levels and blends and filtering methods and even brewing temperatures and then figure out what goes best with what. Mom and I experimented with this blend for a whole month before we got it perfect."

"Do other beans taste like this?"

"The sweetest beans come from Menagerie because of how tropical it is down there. There are some sweet coffee beans that come from the tropical area of Mistral, but nothing beats Menagerie. Patch does grow coffee, too, but only in a tiny area of land that's actually suitable for growing coffee beans."

"I thought you could grow coffee anywhere."

Lilly shook her head. "Has to be tropical. Tropical areas are perpetually warm and wet, which is basically necessary for coffee beans. That's why Atlas doesn't grow any at all. Well, Oasis tries to grow coffee since it's the only temperate patch of land in all of Solitas, but it's not tropical and it's too cool, so the beans come out really weird and funky tasting."

"So, why is Menagerie's coffee so good?"

"Particularly cuz of the mountains. Menagerie's tropical mountains are pretty high in elevation and that's where the best beans come from. Vacuo's mountain beans are also pretty good, but not as high altitude as Menagerie's."

"I...don't see how altitude can influence how a bean tastes."

Lilly chuckled. "It has to do with how long the beans take to mature. The lower the altitude, the hotter the climate is, so the beans end up softer and ripen really quickly. The higher the altitude, the cooler the environment, and the longer it takes for the beans to mature, so the sugar content really builds up. It's why beans from Menagerie are almost like chocolate."

"If they like cooler environments, why not just grow them in Atlas?"

"That's what some growers are trying to do in Oasis, but the problem is that Solitas is too dry. And you can't really grow much of anything on permafrost, so that's totally out of the question."

"So the wetness is what makes tropical regions the best?"

Lilly nodded as she sipped on her coffee, savoring every drop. "That's why they only grow it in specific regions. The mountains north of Vacuo in their tropical region are basically the perfect spot for bean growing, among other things, so there's some farmers out there trying their hand in the coffee game. Still, nobody beats Menagerie's high tropical mountains when it comes to coffee beans."

"So, how the heck do they grow them on Patch?"

"Patch is actually kinda tropical to the northwest for some reason, even though the rest of the island is pretty temperate. I dunno, probably has something to do with the oceanic current or some other weather pattern that makes that spot of the island really wet. I'm just wondering how the heck they pull any of it off since it actually snows on the island."

"Maybe their beans are particularly hardy."

"Probably. They've gotta be if they have to survive the cold. Ugh, some of these climates honestly make no sense. It's an island. There shouldn't be two whole climates there."

Echo chuckled, looking into her empty cup.

"So, how come you're not with your team?"

"Should be asking you the same, team leader."

"Ingrid is up at the CCTS tower talking to her mom and dad and the rest of the family. Leon and Yuan are playing videogames with Xanthus and Perseus. I'm surprised you're not with Athena, to be honest."

Echo reddened a bit. "She's off training with Penny and Professor Branwen. I didn't wanna get in their way."

"Huh?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you mean 'get in their way'?"

"You know. Athena's the top of the entire school. I'm, well, I'm me."

Lilly watched her companion as she fidgeted with her cup while looking out at nothing in particular. In truth, they were both no different. They still had a long way to go with their academic performance and both were the least physically strong of both teams.

"I mean, honestly," she began, "I'm probably the least prepared out of all of us."

Echo turned to her.

"But I have a promise to keep. To my mom. That I'm gonna do the best that I can do while I'm here." She paused. "Hey, does your village get communication from the CCTS network?"

She shook her head.

"They get letters, though, right?"

"Not really. We don't have any regular communication with the outside, but from time to time we do have people visit a town at the edge of our forest. That's the only place we ever do any trading with."

"Well, the good thing is that we have a super diligent mailing company that delivers mail anywhere you might need it delivered!"

"Huh? Really? That exists?"

"I think so."

Echo gave her a dry look.

"Hey, Perseus said his dad's company has a subsidiary that does worldwide deliveries!"

"Oh."

"So, c'mon! Why don't you write your family a letter?"

"A letter?"

"Yeah! You can't reach them by CCTS network, so a letter will have to do."

"But..."

"C'mon! It'll be awesome! It's not fair that I get to call my mom every weekend and let her know my progress here at school and you don't. At least send your parents a letter!"

"I guess."

"Nah-uh. No 'I guess'. I'm not gonna let you go until you get to writing."

Echo chuckled before getting up to throw away their trash.

"Hey! You can't escape me!"

She hopped up to a light post and Lilly scowled at her.

"That's not fair!"

Echo chuckled before hopping back down. "I was just getting a better view of our path to the library, that's all."

"You lie."

"Never."

"Hmph."

Echo couldn't help but laugh. "So, where's the letter writing department?"

"Well, campus does have a postal service at the administration building, but let's go get a table at the library."

Echo followed after her. "I've never written a letter before."

"Oh, first time for everything! I'll coach you, but it's your letter, so the writing is gonna be totally yours."

"Okay."

They took the first vacant table at the library. Echo pulled out her notebook from her backpack, flipping to the first blank page available.

"Hey, you draw?" Lilly said, noticing her flip past a sketch of a flower of some kind.

"Yeah," Echo said, flipping back to the pencil drawing of a water lily she had drawn a while ago, while they were out collecting tree sap from Forever Fall.

"Oh, that's pretty!"

"Do you draw, too?"

"Yeah, but not as much as I used to. I doodled every day back in middle school, but I kinda stopped in high school. Actually, I can't remember the last time I picked up a pencil."

"I think it'll come back to you once inspiration hits."

"You think so?"

She nodded. "I don't think something like that just leaves you."

"Maybe. Okay, let's get started! For now, just think of the stuff you wanna tell your family. And don't hold back on what you wanna tell them, too."

Echo stared at a blank page for a long while. Each time she would put her pen down to the paper and begin writing, she'd be dissatisfied with her own work, cross everything out, and start over again, repeating the process until she had to flip to a new page altogether.

She thought of what to include in the letter, her progress in school and her work with her team, but there was nothing she could write that could make her parents proud of her. After all, she was at the bottom of the GPA ladder in the entire school and her physical capabilities weren't anywhere near where the rest of her team was.

The drought of inspiration ended when she remembered her mother's words to her the night before she shipped off from her village to become a Huntress.

Echo, I love you. Nothing can ever change that. I want you to know that the last thing your father and I want to do is to keep you from spreading your wings and becoming who you were truly meant to be. This will always be your home, Echo, but you need to find out where you truly belong. After all, my darling, you were always meant to roam under the blue sky, not stay cooped up in this tiny village forever.

Echo looked down at her notebook. There were a few wet spots on the page. She wiped her eyes with her palms upon realizing that the teardrops were hers. A soothing touch enveloped her shoulders as her companion wrapped an arm around her.

"I think you've figured out what you wanna say, huh?" Lilly said with the warmest smile ever, as far as Echo was concerned.

Echo nodded, getting to work on the letter. She had begun this venture with the impression that she was going to write an essay, but sometimes the most powerful messages were contained in the fewest words.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I think I've finally figured out where I really belong.

Always yours,

Echo