Silver Snow

Chapter 4: Flop


"Meow."

Flayn eyed the small, fluffy animal with indignant rage.

The furry, feline monstrosity that had the nerve to steal her prize.

The abominable cat which continued to humiliate her; mocking her with its gleaming eyes and falsely innocent mewls.

"Give it back!" she growled, doing her utmost to sound as dangerous and threatening as possible. A few students shook their heads and giggled, which only added to Flayn's humiliation. Were it not for her pride, she would have surely ran to Seteth for consolation.

"Nya-ya-ya!"

A laugh.

Flayn's eyes widened. There was no mistaking it. The cat had actually dared to laugh at her.

"Oh, that's it, you little beast!" she cried, and threw herself at the cat, fully intent on exacting her revenge. She may not look it, but she was a nabatean, and Flayn had no intention of continuing to suffer such disgrace.

She had already visualized her triumphant victory; reclaiming her prize from the horrid beast's blasphemous jaws, whereupon she would make it learn the error of its ways. The plan was fool-proof.

However, as she was about to learn, things rarely go as expected.

The cat nimbly leapt out of her reach, and with a yelp of suprise, Flayn was sent sprawling, now headed for a collision course with the monastery's solid pavement.

"Oof!" she exclaimed; the air rushing out of her chest as she hit the ground. Tears were already welling up in her eyes, and the soft, derisive taps of her tormentor only served to make matters worse.

Then, suddenly, they stopped, and Flayn was met with the sight of a fish, dangling before her face in a most taunting and vexing manner. Its scales glimmered in the sunlight, which in turn was reflected by the neighboring fishing pond.

It was her fish.

The fish that had taken all day to catch. The fish she had spent countless hours attempting to bait, only for it to be snatched out of her hands mere seconds after reeling it in.

Her proud, joyous and celebratory moment, gone in an instant.

"Noooo..." she wailed, when the cat let out a final, haughty sound, and walked away.

With the last spark of spirit leaving her, Flayn allowed her head to sink to the ground, where she spent the next few minutes sobbing wistfully. Without a doubt, this day would come to be remembered as one of the worst in her life.

"Miss Flayn. I've been meaning to see you."

She opened a single eye, and immediately blushed in shame. Professor Eisner gazed down upon her dispassionately; his thoughts and emotions impossible to decipher. The Goddess must have been feeling ironic and cruel today, she thought.

To think that only recently, she had been boasting about her maturity to the very person standing in front of her. She managed to stammer out a half-hearted greeting, too defeated to stand on her feet, but thankfully the professor did not speak out on her situation.

"I've recently conversed with Seteth, and he has requested that I make sure no unsolicited actions are taken toward you."

It took some time for the statement to sink in, but once it did, Flayn flushed harder than ever before.

"As such, I feel it would be prudent for me to accompany you throughout the monastery when outside of class."

Once she had built up enough courage to show her face in public again, she vowed to chew her brother out to such an extent that he would regret his own birth.

"Unless you have a different suggestion, would you like to join me for a spot of fishing? The spoils would fall to you, of course. I happen to have... overstocked in the last few days, but the sport itself is still rather relaxing."

Or perhaps, thought Flayn, not that harshly.