Pin sat perched on the edge of the bed, staring at nothing in particular. She hadn't been feeling well lately; she could feel it. Her muscles were sore all day, even after training, and she had trouble sleeping. Even more than that, something was off, something was wrong. It wasn't that she didn't feel well.
Far from it.
It felt like she hadn't slept enough, and she just couldn't shake the feeling. As if she were waiting, or expecting something. And now she was waiting again. Sitting in the dark and alone. Not knowing what was happening outside of this room. Her head fell into her hands.
She wanted to go outside.
Maybe it was because she'd spent so much time here lately – she knew that there wasn't much to look at besides the walls and floors around her. But she needed to walk someplace else, someplace where she wouldn't be trapped inside this tiny room.
She jumped up, the floor creaking slightly beneath her. She walked toward the door, her hand gripping the handle.
Before she opened it, though, she took a deep breath and forced herself to relax, forcing the tension in her shoulders out. Taking a step back she opened the door, looking down at the stairs. TV was blaring, and she was sure Leafy and Firey were fast asleep. They didn't care what happened outside. All they cared about was playing and losing.
She closed the door behind her, walking quietly through the hallways. As she entered the room, the television cut off abruptly. "Oh!" Pin heard Leafy exclaim. Then footsteps sounded, and suddenly Leafy's face appeared next to hers, smiling broadly. "Hey, Pin! I'm glad you came!"
Pin turned her face away. "Yeah. Me too."
"You look tired." Leafy said. She reached forward. "Come sit on the couch with me! We're watching some shows, just us two. How's that sound?"
Pin looked over at the television. The volume had not changed, and she could still hear the familiar voices from earlier. She sighed, before finally
replying "Fine."
She took a seat in front of Leafy, and soon Leafy began pointing out which episode they should start the show on, while she leaned against her. Pin let herself rest, enjoying the warmth that radiated from Leafy, despite the air conditioner blasting loudly behind them.
Suddenly the door swung open.
Firey came striding in, stopping abruptly when he saw Pin sitting next to Leafy. "Oh! Hi, Pin. You've come back!" He smiled warmly at her. Pin stared up at him. "Uh, yeah. Hi." Leafy said, still a bit on edge.
Pin watched them both nervously. "Hi."
Flower popped into view. "What's going on?" She had a huge frown on her face, a sign that she was irritated.
"We're gonna watch some TV!" Leafy explained enthusiastically. "Why don't you join us?"
Pin looked up at Flower, who seemed to have calmed down a little.
"Fine. What channels do we got on here?" She said, taking a seat beside her.
"Great!" Leafy exclaimed. "I'll turn the volume up."
The screen flickered to life, showing the same scene from earlier. Pin watched as the contestants continued their battle, and then she noticed something odd.
"Wait a minute...there's something missing..." She said, narrowing her eyes.
Flower turned to look at her, confused. She felt Flower was definitely wondering why she was acting so weird. "Missing? What do you mean?"
Before Pin could reply, the power seemed to go out, making them jump and the tv screen flashed off momentarily.
Everything was fine, right? Right.
